Gaura Gopal
Legal name not yet confirmed
Gaur GopalGaura GopalaGour Gopal
- ISKCON public relations man in Australia (Achyuta das's description); associate of Bhavananda
- Hare Krishna public relations man in Australia (as of 1988)
Record summary
1 entry — 1 allegation.
Last reviewedBio
Gaura Gopal was a member of ISKCON in Australia in the 1980s. Achyuta das (Edward Brungardt), headmaster of the gurukula (school) at the New Govardhana farm near Murwillumbah, New South Wales, from about 1982, describes him as “the ISKCON PR man” and an associate of Bhavananda, then the guru and GBC member for Australia. He also says that Bhavananda arranged Gaura Gopal’s marriage to the mother of a gurukula pupil.
In August 1988 The Bulletin (Sydney) quoted the movement’s public relations man in Australia, “also known as Gaura Gopal”, on Bhavananda’s fall (“He felt he should tell the truth … repent”) and on the troubles of the New Govardhana farm, and described him driving around Australia collecting signatures for a petition for Hare Krishna devotees held in Soviet labour camps.
He is not Gaur Gopal Das, the Indian ISKCON monk and speaker, who is not connected with this record. Gaura Gopal’s initiating guru, birth year and later life are not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Sources (2)
- [1]iskcon-truth.com, Chapter 74: Bhavananda Das — critic website; account by Achyuta das (2017), pp. 577–584, in a self-published book on Prabhupada's death attributed to Nityananda das, 2017
- [2]The Bulletin (Sydney), The empty throne (Martin Warneminde) — with the sidebar "Toll of the gurus"; pp. 90–91 and 94, Aug 9, 1988
Record
1 entry · most established firstSexual abuse of a boy at New Govardhana, Australia
Achyuta das, headmaster of the New Govardhana gurukula, wrote that in about 1983 the mother of a 12-year-old pupil told him she had caught her husband, Gaura Gopal, sexually abusing her son at night. A few days later, he wrote, he caught Gaura Gopal chasing the boy through the bush on the farm and warned him off. Years later he gave a statement to the police. A separate anonymous account says Gaura Gopal abused a child and was grooming others, and that Ramai Swami knew and did nothing.
In his letter, Achyuta das wrote that Bhavananda had arranged the marriage of the boy’s mother to Gaura Gopal. He wrote that the mother came to him “with her first hand account” of what she had seen. He also wrote that, a few days later, he went to Bhavananda about separate reports from Mayapur. Two days after that, the immigration authorities arrested him. Years later, he wrote, Gaura Gopal ran up to him and said: “I didn’t do it, Acyuta. It was Bhavananda”, which Achyuta took to mean that Gaura Gopal had not reported him to immigration.
Gaura Gopal’s response has not been found.
- 2016Reported allegationAn anonymous Australian devotee wrote that Ramai Swami "was informed that Gaura Gopal had abused one child and was grooming more", did nothing, and that Gaura Gopal "went on to abuse more children".
- 2017Reported allegationAchyuta das, then the gurukula headmaster, wrote that he caught Gaura Gopal chasing a 12-year-old pupil through the bush on the farm, and that in 2002 he gave the New South Wales police at Murwillumbah a statement about it. In an undated letter he wrote that the boy's mother had told him she caught Gaura Gopal sexually abusing her son at night. These accounts have not been tested.
Achyuta das wrote that when the boy was 22 he wanted to bring charges, and that in 2002 Achyuta gave a statement to a detective at Murwillumbah police station who was investigating the matter. The result of that investigation has not been found, and no charge or court record has been found (AustLII, which includes New South Wales court judgments, and Trove searched in October 2026; police statements are not public). No ISKCON action against Gaura Gopal has been found. The anonymous account says Ramai Swami did nothing to stop Gaura Gopal's later arranged marriage to a woman who was not told of his past.
Sources (3)
- [1]iskcon-truth.com, Chapter 74: Bhavananda Das — critic website; account by Achyuta das (2017), pp. 577–584, in a self-published book on Prabhupada's death attributed to Nityananda das, 2017 original
- [2]Letter from Achyuta das (Edward Brungardt) to Lohitaksha das (Lee Blanch), undated, in a typed compilation of testimonies about Bhavananda (copy held by the editors; not published)
- [3]krishna1008.blogspot.com, RE: Why is the GBC Protecting Ramai Swami? — an anonymous Australian devotee's account, reposted with comments by PADA, Nov 1, 2016 original
People affected
1 people affected · 0 died- A boy aged 12, New Govardhana, New South Wales, 1983The gurukula's headmaster wrote that in about 1983 the boy's mother told him she had caught Gaura Gopal sexually abusing her son at night, and that he later gave the police a statement about it. No charge or court record has been found Abused.ConnectionReported allegation
Timeline
Each status change in this record, on one axis, with the periods of the cases Gaura Gopal is involved in.
- 2016
- Reported allegationNov 1, 2016 Sexual abuse of a boy at New Govardhana, Australia An anonymous Australian devotee wrote that Ramai Swami "was informed that Gaura Gopal had abused one child and was grooming more", did nothing, and that Gaura Gopal "went on to abuse more children".
- 2017
- Reported allegation2017 Sexual abuse of a boy at New Govardhana, Australia Achyuta das, then the gurukula headmaster, wrote that he caught Gaura Gopal chasing a 12-year-old pupil through the bush on the farm, and that in 2002 he gave the New South Wales police at Murwillumbah a statement about it. In an undated letter he wrote that the boy's mother had told him she caught Gaura Gopal sexually abusing her son at night. These accounts have not been tested.