Please accept my greetings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated Jan. 18, 1975 and have noted the contents carefully. Regarding your question, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is recognized through the sastras not otherwise. For instance, in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, first canto, third chapter, all the major incarnations of Godhead are listed. Many times the scheduled time of appearance and family, etc. are also mentioned. The incarnation of Godhead must be indicated in the scriptures, otherwise we cannot accept him as being incarnation. Today, there are so many bogus incarnations, but we do not accept them. The Supreme Lord can appear in this world at any time, but he does so according to the regular scheduled appearances mentioned in the sastras. According to the sastras, the last most recent incarnation was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who appeared in West Bengal about 500 years ago. We are following in direct line of disciplic teaching from Him.

Another point is that the words of the Lord have been recorded in the Bhagavad-gita, so if someone comes claiming to be incarnation, but also contradicts the Bhagavad-gita, then we can be sure he is phony. Please try to read and understand my books very carefully. All these things are explained.

I hope this meets you in good health.