There was something in the air. Despite its numerous and profound deviations, we must never forget that“ISKCON” always was and remains an occult organization. It daily performs occult rituals, and its initiations and Deity installations are occult ceremonies. Dealing with the occult, you are unavoidably dealing with curses and spells. It matters little whether such dealings are in connection to Western high priests, Satanists, fortune tellers, Tarot readers, wizards, sorcerers, “spiritualists,” witches, warlocks, Çaivites, Çäktas, Jains, Buddhists, quasi-brähmins, or genuine Vaiñëava stalwarts (or even deviated ones), occult principalities unrecognizable to materialists are always at play.

And those forces can and do work subtly, covertly, and indirectly. The majority of the other heavy-hitters in “ISKCON” were now against Kértanänanda Swämi, and, despite the numbers, property, temples, and wealth that he possessed, he was frustrating them and igniting their anger against him. In all likelihood, he was confident that he would be the ultimate winner in this new struggle against the forces of institutionalism, but he had been part of it. If the media makes you, the media can break you.

Sulochan was making violent threats. Whether or not they were nothing more than bluffs is anyone's guess, but he was also marketing and distributing missives that attacked “Bhaktipäda” where it hurt. Affected by his writings, people were catching on. Just as importantly—and even more importantly in the estimation of your author—the governing body was deeply influencing devotees that the heady days of the pretender äcäryas were, one way or the other, going to be brought to an end.

“Bhaktipäda Wants This Guy Gone”

“ . . . a human being, there is law, because human being is intelligent. So, you cannot kill any other human being, you cannot murder. Then, you'll be hanged.”
Morning Walk, 4-26-73 in Los Angeles

“A person who commits murder is envious of himself and also the person he has killed, for the result of committing murder is that he will be arrested and hanged.”
Çrémad-Bhägavatam, 6.16.42, purport

Senator (1): What was your position?
Willie Cicci: I was a soldier. A button. You know, Senator, c'mon.
Senator (1): No, I don't know. Tell me.
Cicci: When the boss says, “Push a button on a guy,” I push a button. See, Senator?
Senator (1): You mean you kill people at the behest of your superiors?
Cicci: Yeah, that's right, Counselor.
Senator (2): Did you ever get such an order directly from Michael Corleone?
Cicci: No, I never talked to him.
Senator (2): Was there always a buffer involved?
Cicci: Yeah. Right. Buffer. The Family had a lot of buffers.
Senate Congressional Hearing, “Godfather II”

Most of you know that a devotee named Sulochan däs was murdered in the back streets of Culver City, California in the late spring of 1986, shot twice in the head at point blank range while sitting in the driver's seat of his van. Most of you also know that the convicted murderer, “Mr. T,” was an initiated disciple of Kértanänanda. As far as the details of this hit are concerned, these can be gleaned from the INTERNET, from Monkey on a Stick by John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson, and from the aforementioned Killing for Krishna.

To devote font space in rehashing all of that would be counterproductive to the intent of this series: It's all about Kértanänanda. If it was gone over in scrupulous detail, far more than three parts would have to be devoted to it. As such, Part Three will simply boil the saga down to its essentials, those centering around “Bhaktipäda,” i.e., understanding the motive and root process centering around the source of both.

In summation, it went down because Kértanänanda wanted it to, although he conveniently pretended otherwise. The motive was two-fold: Revenge and removal of a nagging pebble in his shoe. Sulochan had predicted that, after his assassination, it would be discovered that Kértanänanda was engaged in illicit sex as a so-called guru. That came to pass, and, with the publication of Killing for Krishna, that and much more.

Due to the spotlight he put on the breach of etiquette Sulochan suffered—of his wife being initiated without his consent--he was responsible for Kértanänanda, in August of 1985, being chastised by a committee working under G.B.C. sanction. That entity, a so-called “Privilege Committee,” concluded that Kértanänanda should not have initiated Sulochan's wife without his permission. It labeled this transgression an “injudicious mistake,” recommending that Kértanänanda acknowledge and apologize for it. This was a humiliation for him (it would not be the last one), and it energized his desire for vengeance against Sulochan.

There are ironies involved, also. There was no need to push a button on Sulochan in May of 1986, because he had actually, by that time, abandoned his campaign against Kértanänanda and had chalked out an entirely new direction. The Paramätmä did not allow anyone in the camp of his mortal enemies, including Kértanänanda, to know this, because Sulochan's assassination served His purpose.

It brought down Kértanänanda and the zonals from their elevated seats.

There was also the irony that Sulochan had nothing to do with Tré-yogé's attack on Kértanänanda. That one created, in its aftermath, a military camp atmosphere that would pervade and dominate “New Våndävan,” culminating in the Culver City assassination. It was the catalyst for a new, dangerous, and reactionary environment promulgated by the pathological element always present at the compound.

Sulochan and Tré-yogé only got to know one another while they were incarcerated in County. They were politically incompatible, because, by the second half of 1985, Sulochan was completely against the G.B.C. and the institutionalism (its version of organized religion) that was intrinsic to it. On the other hand, Tré-yogé wanted to be recognized as an institutional guru and was willing to work the system. It was not Sulochan or his writings that instigated Tré-yogé to strike Kértanänanda; it was the great man's rejection of the G.B.C. and the effective curses that were thus hurled against him by “ISKCON” Party Men.

Most importantly, it was not the pathological criminals at the Moundsville camp that were primarily responsible for the assassination of Steve Bryant; it was Kértanänanda himself. To naively believe that he did not know the cause and effect that he set into motion—the effect being the assassination itself—is to grossly underestimate the man. He was, arguably, the heaviest cult manipulator on earth at that time. He was shrewd, sly, and a diabolical genius. Backed up by his homosexual lover from the Sixties (who insisted that Sulochan must be eliminated), Kértanänanda himself did not require to mastermind the rub out.

It would go down unless he definitively stopped it from going down. Also, it served his purpose to pretend that he was unaware of the planning, machinations, and funding required for the murder. That he did not know everything simply means that he did not have to know everything. He knew far more than he let on. At his Moundsville compound, this man was like a mini-Stalin, reputed to be meticulous in all details in every operation. That his hatchet men would make mistakes—even serious ones—was already figured into the equation by Kértanänanda. He need deniability, and, as it turned, he very much needed it, because the trail left by the culprits who carried out the crime was extensive.

Ironically, what Kértanänanda did not know—and what none of the other perps also did not know—is that they had an enemy in camp, despite the fact that he was not an initiate and that he lived outside “New Våndävan.” Randall Gorby was one of the chief instigators, one who “Mr. T” (for some time) had treated almost like a mentor--and wound up foolishly depending upon. However, Gorby had become a government informant.

This was how the assassin was discovered in Kent, Ohio, because Gorby the Rat had an arrangement to inform law enforcement (and record the caller) when “Mr. T” called him. If Kértanänanda was the all-pervading seer that his acolytes wrongly believed him to have been, then he would have, at the very least, given some kind of dire warning to all of his initiated disciples to keep Gorby out the plot circle. They would have complied.

After Kértanänanda returned from hospitalization, his community entered a stage of degradation. It was turning completely into his personality cult, replete with fanaticism and soldier of fortune energy. Gorby took advantage of that, by suggesting to Hayagréva that Sulochan should be hunted down and liquidated. Gorby also said that the best man for the job was “Mr. T.,” a.k.a., T. Red-Jacket. Hayagréva approved the idea and approached his homosexual lover from the Sixties. That is where and how the saga began.

For those of you who cling to the misconception that “Bhaktipäda” was out of it, did not want Sulochan assassinated, and was basically innocent in connection to the murder, there are twelve historical facts which should be considered in order to disabuse you of that notion:

1) In late 1985, Hayagréva spoke with Kértanänanda privately about eliminating “the demon” Sulochan. Just after this meeting, Hayagréva then approached “Mr. T.” and informed him that Kértanänanda wanted Sulochan to “disappear.”¹

2) During an interview with Federal investigators in 1989, the former temple president of the Moundsville compound implicated one of his godbrothers in the murder plot. In so doing, he also implicated Kértanänanda. He was asked the following question:

“Is there any question in your mind . . . whether Kértanänanda knew that Slavin was preaching . . . (that) the devotees had to do whatever it took to protect their Swämi, who was a representative of God? Did Kértanänanda know that Slavin was making these preachings?”

To which, the former temple president replied, “You know, I would say yes.”²

3) Circa 1994, with “Mr. T” incarcerated and having just rejected Kértanänanda, one of his friends (and a possible accessory to the crime) spoke to him in what they thought was a private talk between themselves in the Big House. Actually, law enforcement officials were recording it. During the conversation, “T. Red-Jacket” named seven people in the conspiracy to murder Sulochan. The first name he divulged was, of course, “Bhaktipäda.”³

4) Knowledge of the assassination rippled throughout the movement in the fourth week of May, 1986. Virtually none of Çréla Prabhupäda's initiated disciples had any doubt that Kértanänanda pushed the button. Indeed, even Ravéndra Svarüpa, in one of his lesser-known tracts from that time, confirmed this all-pervading conviction after the hit:

“When Sulochan was killed, everybody in ISKCON knew that Kértanänanda was behind it. . . Everybody knew it. No devotee would kill another devotee unless it was authorized.”
Ravéndra Svarüpa däs Adhikäré, “The Hidden History of ISKCON”

5) While Sulochan was incarcerated in County at Moundsville on a weapons charge, “Mr. T” and one of his accomplices traveled to California in order to set the stage for the hit someplace far away from The Palace of Gold. They went by the nicknames “Mr. T.” and “Bhakta Barney.” They knocked on the door of one of their god-cousins (so to speak), one who provided security for the local zonal äcärya. His roommate, Premadatta, answered the door. In the murder trial transcript from 1991, where this devotee was interrogated about whether or not he knew that Drescher intended to kill Sulochan, Premadatta testified:

“They said they were coming from New Vrindavan. Tértha did most of the talking. He said, and I quote: 'Bhaktipäda wants this guy gone.'”⁴

6) During the same murder trial, Kåñëa Kathä, the aforementioned security man for the Southern California zonal in 1986, testified as follows:

“Later, they said they wanted to kill Sulochan, and they suggested a few different ways. . . They were there because their spiritual master, Bhaktipäda—an advanced person in the sense of spiritual life—had told him that that is what he wanted done.”⁵

7) The hitter himself related how he had told Hayagréva of his hesitancy to carry out the murder of Sulochan:

“I just told him, I really wanted out of it, and he said, 'Well, if you intend to do this, I will have to have some money up front for expense' . . . At that time, he indicated to me that he had spoken again (to Kértanänanda) and everything would be taken care of, that he wanted the man silenced. . . Whatever I did, I did out of a sense of duty to my spiritual master.”⁶

8) That same man, who twice pulled the trigger on Steve Bryant, further revealed that he received direct, first-hand authorization to conduct the rub out:

“. . . so, I approached Kértanänanda myself at his home. He was semi-convalescing at that time. Nobody else was in the room. . . I told him, 'Hayagréva and some of the other devotees told me that you wanted this guy killed.' And I said, ''Is this what you want? Are you convinced this would be the best thing?' And he nodded his head in the affirmative. I said, 'Do you mean YES?' . . . He says, 'So, under the circumstances, yes, it would be best.'”⁷

9) We must also consider the aftermath. If Kértanänanda neither knew about the murder plot nor authorized it in any way, why would he later cooperate with the assassin? Why would he directly approve of (and even handle) getaway monies to be forwarded to the man who finished the job? Despite one well-publicized denial (which makes sense, considering that he needed just such deniability), Kértanänanda “allegedly” authorized money to be taken from the saìkértan leader at the Moundsville compound and brought and handed over to “Mr. T.” so that he and his family could flee the United States:

“Sometimes, the department heads visited him (Kértanänanda) in his home prior to a trip, and sometimes they spoke to him while he sat in his Cadillac limousine in his driveway before departing for Pittsburgh International Airport. During this time, Bhaktipäda allegedly told Kulädri that Hayagréva could have $2,500. . . After receiving the bag of money from Dharmatma, Bhaktipäda and Rädhänätha Swämi returned to Bhaktipäda's house, where Bhaktipäda personally counted the money.”
Killing for Krishna, Chapter 10, The Demon Jailed, “Bhaktipäda Allegedly Authorized $2,500”

10) The saìkértan leader of the Moundsville compound provided more details:

“The next day (Sunday, May 25^th), Bhaktipäda, along with Rädhänäth, drove up in my driveway in Bhaktipäda's vehicle and tooted the horn for me to come outside. . . then Bhaktipäda asked me if I had six thousand dollars cash in the house. . . I counted out six thousand dollars and brought it out to him and handed it in through the window. . . I said, 'What is this? So, they can get out of the country?' And Bhaktipäda and Rädhänäth smiled and nodded their heads, ''YES'''”⁸

When the assassin was apprehended (with an accomplice who eventually also did time), the cash on him was confiscated by Kent, Ohio law enforcement. Eventually, it was analyzed for fingerprints, and Kértanänanda's were found to be all over it.

11) In a letter to Henry Doktorski, his friend and godbrother, after having rejected Kértanänanda as his spiritual master, Thomas Drescher, incarcerated for two first-degree murders, admitted that he had been duped, shaken, and hurt by what he did. He wrote: “It is I who committed the acts. . . It is no small thing to take another life.” Also, in a letter from the previous July of that year (to a godsister), he came right out with it: “He (Kértanänanda) ordered me to execute other devotees. I acted in the belief that I was serving guru and Krishna. I can say this: Cakradhäré and Sulochan did not deserve to die as they did. . . This is the burden I must always live with.”⁹

Beginning in the second half of 1986, the mills of justice really started to grind. Thomas Drescher was eventually put on trial for the murder of Charles Saint-Denis at the Circuit Court of Preston County, West Virginia. On Sept. 15^th, a Grand Jury convened to investigate a possible connection to members of the Moundsville cult and Sulocan's murder. Two months later, “ISKCON” temple presidents requested the G.B.C. to excommunicate Kértanänanda, and that actually transpired the following spring.

In the first week of December, Drescher was convicted of murdering Cakradhäré (Saint-Denis) by a West Virginia jury. In the middle of that month, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole, as West Virginia no longer had a death penalty. On Jan. 6^th, 1987, as part of his plea bargain, under a muddy creek bed in a remote part of Kértanänanda's playground, the location of the body of Saint-Denis was revealed by a co-conspirator in his murder.

One day earlier, things really went south for Vanity Fair. Fifty F.B.I. agents teamed with the I.R.S. and local law enforcement to raid the community's admin offices, collection house, and its press building. They filled three semis with records, computers, cabinets, cash, caps (bearing professional sports insignia), and bumper stickers. This would turn out to have a major negative impact on the community's finances, as well as legal repercussions.

“ISKCON” authorities did not take kindly to how Kértanänanda responded. He went on a slash-and-burn “Freedom Tour,” and anyone and everyone had opposed to him was fair game. He hinted that “ISKCON” may have been behind the raid in order to secure his property. The chief P. R. spokesman for “ISKCON” stated that the tour was preparation for the great man breaking away from the mother ship.

That had been going on for years. Belatedly, the G.B.C. finally took action. At its annual conclave in Mäyäpur, on March 16, 1987, Kértanänanda Swämi was excommunicated from “ISKCON.” His followers declared the excommunication null and void. The leader of the Second Transformation, Ravéndra Svarüpa däs Adhikäré, also a temple president (the most influential one), appeared on “Larry King Live” to back the governing body's decision and condemn Kértanänanda: “We found him a separatist, ambitious, arrogant, duplicitous. He was running his own movement.” Kértanänanda counter-condemned the chief “ISKCON” spokesmen as nothing more than vultures.

Game on.

In July, the above-mentioned raid resulted in a multi-million dollar lawsuit being filed against the Moundsville community, centering on the panhandling of illegally-obtained, copyrighted trademarks. That was too much for “ISKCON.” In February, 1988, New Våndävan went the way of their leader and was formally expelled from corporate ISKCON.

During all of this, Kértanänanda converted his operation into something really new. He created his own society, The Eternal Order of the Holy Name. Sulochan had predicted this before his assassination, but it didn't take any seer to do so. The Moundsville movement now became inter-faith, i.e., it was “Christianized,” just befitting Keith Ham's indoctrination into the Baptist faith during his early days. Everything that was too Southeast Asian would be jettisoned. Japa was now chanted in English! For men, the standard Vaiñëava robes were exchanged for dark brown Franciscan attire. A mürti of Iesos Kristos was prominently placed on an elevated seat in the temple (not the Palace).

No longer would new initiates receive Sanskrit names. Instead, they would be branded with names like Purity, Peaceful, Equanimity, Sister Piety and Mother Merciful. Although it was nothing more than a compromise, this inter-faith tactic was rationalized as supposedly making Kåñëa consciousness more attractive and understandable to Westerners. The Cult of Kértanänanda was coming off the rails, and the inmates of New Våndävan were breaking out on a regular basis: Between 1986-1994, the head count there dropped dramatically, from a reported high of seven hundred to one hundred or less.

The legal gears against it were not coming off the rails, however. They went after Kértanänanda personally, rightly assessing that all the hell that went down in recent years was ultimately due to him. On May 24, 1990, a federal grand jury in West Virginia indicted him on eleven counts, including violating RICO and conspiracy to murder Charles Saint-Denis and Steven Bryant. There was evidence.

There was also plenty of evidence against “Mr. T.” in connection to the slaying of Sulochan. Previous to Kértanänanda's indictment, the Marshall County Circuit Court, on August 12, 1987, ordered that Thomas Drescher be extradited to California to stand trial for the murder of Steve Bryant. The extradition took place On November 27, 1988. The next day, the accused pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Municipal Court. His trial would begin in 1990.

In December of that year, a mistrial was declared, with eight jurors voting to acquit. The prosecution, however, did not drop the case. In August, 1991, Kértanänanda's disciple, in Van Nuys Superior court, Judge Carol Fieldhouse presiding, was convicted of the first-degree murder of Bryant. On Dec. 4^th, Drescher was again sentenced to life in prison without parole, as per the recommendation of the jury.

Back in West Virginia that year, the trial of Kértanänanda ensued, beginning on March 11, 1991 and presided over by Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr. Two senior representatives of “ISKCON” attended throughout--hoping, in all likelihood, that a conviction of the great man would result in his property being turned over to their control. The trial and deliberation proceeded quickly, with testimony ending on March 19^th. He beat the murder rap, as the jury hung on that charge. On Good Friday, March 29^th, Kértanänanda was convicted of violating the RICO statute and of mail fraud. He faced ninety years.

On June 20^th, he was sentenced to thirty years in the Big House but was released on a quarter million dollars bail, pending appeal. Although collections had decreased dramatically by this time, he took money from all other departments at the compound. It required a one hundred thousand dollar retainer, and the per hour charge was $495.00. The tactic paid off. On the technicality that irrelevant testimony had supposedly been introduced into his trial, the Dershowitz Law Firm got Keith Ham's conviction overturned in the Fourth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia on July 1^st, 1993. As a prominent leader of S.D.S. once said some years before: “Guilty as sin, free as a bird, is this a great country or what?”

A Quick Descent Into Morbidity

“For one who has been honored, dishonor is worse than death.”
Bhagavad-gétä, 2.34

“Having lost his wealth, he experienced agony and lamentation.”
Çrémad-Bhägavatam, 11.23.13

“The Horror. The Horror.”
Col. Kurtz, “Apocalypse Now”

An air of triumphalism wafted through New Våndävan when Kértanänanda won the appeal and returned to his playground in mid-August, 1993, completely vindicated and victorious, having escaped punishment at the hands of the State. His Freedom Tour would now certainly move up to the next octave. Indeed, the great man was invited to speak at the centennial celebration of the Parliament of World's Religions to be held once again in Chicago in late August and early September. There was only blue skies ahead, nothing but blue skies.

Except that there wasn't, because fate had other plans.

On the way back from the Windy City via his Winnebago mobile home, Murphy's Law bit hard. There was a privacy curtain between Kértanänanda's quarters and the driver, who was his loyal, initiated disciple. Somehow or other, the curtain slipped, and the driver took a peek back at his master. It was more than a bit faggie. To his shock and horror, what he witnessed was Kértanänanda en flagrante with a teenage Malaysian.

What to do? Sarvabhauma, the driver, had no doubts about what he had seen, and there was nothing innocent about that sexual activity with the boy. The driver decided to inform leaders at New Våndävan what he had witnessed, and all hell broke loose. Sarvabhauma's dedication to “Bhaktipäda” had been undeniable, his record was clean, he was not a fault-finder, and everyone liked and trusted him. His revelation had the ring of truth, and three leaders of the community believed him instantly.

There was an immediate schism amongst the inmates of New Våndävan. Half heaped condemnation on the driver and considered the whole account to be nothing more than a malicious rumor. The other half believed Sarvabhauma. The “pure devotee,” Kértanänanda, adamantly denied the charge, falsely stating that he had never broken any of the four rules and regulations (for years, he often deviated from two of them).

He claimed that all who believed the driver were conspirators, despite the fact that they had been true believers and propagandists for him throughout previous tribulations that had beset the community. Threats and tensions grew by the hour. One aggressive big-picker announced that coffins must now be made, soon to be filled with the offenders. Sarvabhauma hit the road quickly, which probably saved his life.

The author of Killing for Krishna, a long-time, ultra-dedicated adherent of Kértanänanda, now spoke up against him at a public meeting in October, following that up with a seventeen-page letter delineating the reasons for his change of heart. Two other of the commune's most influential leaders departed. This is how personality cults operate in these kinds of situations, and the Winnebago Incident, as it came to be known, was certainly a major crisis.

The scandalous news spread to the vikarmés in that area, including its law and order realm. The Winnebago Incident proved a god-send for them, providing an opening to grind the gears for a re-trial. Somehow or other, the prosecution was confident it could overcome double jeopardy and once again file charges against Kértanänanda. First, it would offer Keith Ham (and an accomplice) a plea bargain. On March 14, 1994, Kértanänanda's attorneys met with Judge Mehridge. The offer: Plead guilty to one count from the former indictment, and the sentence would be five-to-seven in The Joint. An accomplice to the murder of Sulochan accepted the offer. Kértanänanda adamantly rejected it.

Bad play, Leo.

The prosecution would soon possess more leverage than the Winnebago Incident, much more. Thomas Drescher had been enduring hell at the West Virginia State Penitentiary for years after being brought back from California. Although Drescher had more personal problems at Marshall County and in the Los Angeles holding cell, the conditions there in that particular penitentiary at West Virginia were abominable.

Along with other leaders at the commune, today's author of Killing for Krishna had informed everyone that Kértanänanda should be rejected, indirectly letting Drescher know that “Bhaktipäda's” deviations had been going on since the early Seventies. Drescher at spoke out against the editorial views expressed by major players at the compound, but that propaganda may have injected some doubt in him. He had heard the rumors of the great man's homosexual flings, and now there was credible, eyewitness testimony. Damage control was not working, and the center could not hold.

A Prabhupäda initiate in the sännyasa order (and former leader at the Moundsville cult)—one whom Drescher deeply respected--followed things up with a visit to him. He provided even more details about the chronic sexual interest that Kértanänanda had for adolescent boys (and often acted on). That finally put the long incarcerated man over the top.

Which meant that he was now willing to sing. “Mr. T” would no longer withhold what he knew and was willing to give it all up concerning the murderous details. He now saw himself as little more than a patsy. He knew Kértanänanda deserved to also be in prison but was instead enjoying the forbidden understanding of carnal knowledge with young boys. It was too much for him to continue with his loyalty to such a man.

He rejected “Bhaktipäda.”

Kértanänanda had now lost all of his buffers. The re-trial took place in mid-April, 1996. His attorneys advised him that Dresher's testimony would be fatal to his hope of avoiding prison time. Kértanänanda threw himself at the mercy of the court, pleading guilty to one count in the indictment. As long as he was not held culpable for conspiracy in relation to the two murders, Kértanänanda accepted one count of racketeering. Four months after the trial had begun, Kértanänanda received thirty years, the maximum sentence for racketeering and a $250,000.00 fine from Judge Merhige. He served his sentence first in West Virginia, then at federal pens in Missouri, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. As fate would have it, he only served eight years of the gig, mercifully released due to life-threatening conditions to his health. Federal authorities didn't want the guy dying on them in The Slammer.

During that time, the inmates of New Våndävan petitioned the G.B.C. for re-admission into “ISKCON.” It is granted, provisionally, in 1998 and formalized unconditionally two years later. In that same year, a committee of the governing body stated for the corporate record that Kértanänanda was a child molester.

He had everything taken away from him while incarcerated. Many if not most of his American disciples were abandoning him, and he lost control of his West Virginia operation to “ISKCON.” He was on probation until late 2007, meaning he could not travel outside of America. Upon his release from prison in mid-June, 2004, Kértanänanda went to live at The Interfaith Sanctuary in New York City, run by his few remaining American disciples. The leopard does not easily change its spots. A mere fourteen months later, he was accused of attempting to fondle a young man during a private “darçan.” Some Sanctuary leaders lost respect for the man, considering him now an incorrigible loser.

There was another split, similar to the one in 1993. Heavy behind-the-scenes intrigue and treachery ensued, and it never stopped. Kértanänanda visited his disciples in India in 2007 and found them much more devoted to him than those in New York. He could see what was coming down the pike, and he was laying the groundwork for his next move. His probation ended in November, 2007. In December of that year and in the first month of 2008, the newly-freed Kértanänanda went to Bombay, Rishikesh, and the real Våndävan in India. He and his chief confidante also visited Karachi, Pakistan, and they liked what they saw. The Inter-faith camp that wanted him out took almost four years to forcibly accomplish its objective, and, in the first week of March, 2008, the great man was removed and departed for India.

Things went much better for him there, as his low-information disciples in India and Pakistan never bought into any of the criticisms leveled at him. He stayed at the Ulhasnagar Temple run by his disciples, just outside of Bombay. However, he was no longer simply forced to use a cane, as he was now confined to a wheelchair. Having been battered by “ISKCON,” harassed in The Big House and its harsh conditions, and having endured excruciating embarrassment at the hands of his own disciples (again!) in New York City, the man's health deteriorated. Never very good, it quickly descended, despite all the love and comfort he was receiving in southeast Asia. That he was able to pull on for a little over three years after he arrived there in such bad shape was amazing, a testament to his power of will.

On October 24, 2011, Kértanänanda died of renal failure. His disciples decided that he should receive a saint's burial in Våndävan dhäma. It is still very hot in India in October. The ice they supplied for his coffin during the long train ride did not last as long as they thought it would. You are not going to be able to find replacement ice at any of the brief stops at crowded stations along that route, i.e., the man's corpse underwent swift and massive morbidity and putrefaction during the trip. “ISKCON” would not allow him to be buried on its temple property in Räman Reti, as could have easily been predicted.

He arrived with his face grossly misshapen, distended, and discolored in a haunting gray hue--basically unrecognizable. The local G.B.C. (who had previously received sännyasa from him), along with the temple president and his (Kértanänanda's) former close friend and follower (who turned on him in 1993), visited the body of the dead man. INTERNET photos of these three circumambulating the coffin were straight out of “Tales From the Crypt.” The macabre irony and horror of this final show of respect (if it was that) is mind-boggling!

Your author concludes this series by posting the following three quotes from devotees who knew the man, knew what he did, and/or were, for a time, his febrile disciples:

“The cycle isn't complete—given me a break!! The damage his regime inflicted is reverberating in my generation as we speak! . . . The cycle will be complete when he is suffering his sins in hell along with Hitler.”¹⁰
Räma-Lélä Waterman, former gurukulé at New Våndävan

“The sheer mockery of it all. The holy man blind to reality. Deaf to truth. Acting out a part in a play of his own making. Clinging tightly up until the very end. . . Pretending he held claim as a proper representative—of anything. Of nothing. In his old age, exposed as a pitiful, lost, delusional soul. The fruit of many long years of sensual living.”¹¹
Thomas Drescher, a.k.a., Tértha, a.k.a., T. Red-Jacket, 100 Monkeyz

“Unfortunately, we were all deceived; for in secret, Kértanänanda enjoyed illicit sense gratification, such as the pleasures of the flesh with boys, teenagers and young men as early as the late 1960s, according to reliable witnesses. . . Kértanänanda also enjoyed the intoxicating pleasures of alcohol and recreational drugs from time to time, such as marijuana, beer and cocaine. . . The 'rumors' were, however, fact. To protect his power, authority, and secret pleasures, Kértanänanda was willing to authorize the murder of whistle-blowers, such as Cakradhäré . . . (he) was no spiritual master, at least not according to Prabhupäda's definition. He was a cheater, a show-bottle pretender, and, in Sulochan's words, a 'rogue,' 'a pseudo-religionist,' and 'nothing but a sense gratifier.'”¹²
Henry Doktorski, author of Killing for Krishna

OM TAT SAT

Return to Part One

ENDNOTES