Jagadananda Das

Child physical abuse

Legal name Jan K. Brzezinski

Hiranyagarbha DasHiranyagarbha SwamiJagadananda Das BabajiJan Brzezinski

Deceased — May 28, 2024

Taught Sanskrit at the Dallas gurukula (dates not stated in the obituary; "on and off from 1972-75" in his 1997 letter)
Head of the Varnashram College at New Vrindavan: 1974
Headmaster, Mayapur gurukula: 1975–1979
Took sannyasa from Bhavananda Swami as Hiranyagarbha Swami, then left ISKCON: 1979

Sannyasa fromBhavananda1979

Record summary

1 entry — 1 admission.

Last reviewed Oct 1, 2026

Admitted1997 · beating students

Bio

Jagadananda Das (legal name Jan K. Brzezinski; in ISKCON Hiranyagarbha Das) joined the Hare Krishna movement in Toronto in 1970 and was initiated in Detroit in 1971. In ISKCON he worked at ISKCON Press in Brooklyn, taught Sanskrit at the Dallas gurukula, headed the short-lived “Varnashram College” at New Vrindavan in 1974, and was headmaster of the Mayapur gurukula in India from 1975 to 1979 (Jiva Institute obituary). In 1979 he took sannyasa from Bhavananda Swami as Hiranyagarbha Swami, and the same year left ISKCON.

He wrote that he was “badly beaten up” when villagers attacked the Mayapur temple in 1977; a press statement read to Prabhupada in July 1977 says the attackers fractured the hands and skull of “the Gurukula headmaster”.

After leaving ISKCON he took initiation as a babaji in Navadvipa, earned a PhD in Sanskrit literature from the University of London in 1992, and worked as a translator and scholar of Gaudiya Vaishnava texts, from 2010 at the Jiva Institute in Vrindavan, where he also founded the online magazine Vrindavan Today. He died on 28 May 2024.

His 1997 letter to the former students’ website VOICE is also a source on other records: as headmaster in Mayapur he wrote that “Bhavananda Maharaja, Nitai Chand, Tapomaya and other members of the Mayapura leadership were actively involved in sexual abuse of some of the children”.

Sources (3)

Record

1 entry · most established first

AdmittedJan 5, 1997

TKF-049-A

Violence against children in his care as a gurukula teacher and headmaster (admitted)

CriminalChild physical abusePeriod c. 1972–1977Place Dallas gurukula (TKG Academy)

In a signed letter of January 1997, Jan Brzezinski (Jagadananda Das), formerly Hiranyagarbha Das, a teacher at the Dallas gurukula and headmaster of ISKCON's school at New Vrindavan (1974) and of the Mayapur gurukula (1975–1979), begged "forgiveness for all those acts of violence towards innocent children in which I was involved". He wrote that at New Vrindavan in 1974 "sudden fits of temper on my part … on occasion led to spankings of a particularly unpleasant nature", and that he stopped hitting children after 1977, with one later exception.

New Vrindavan, 1974. He wrote that he headed the “Varnashram College” there under the “very strong militant spirit being instituted by Kirtanananda”, that he thought “a strong discipline was needed”, and that he enlisted an ex-marine who “turned our Varnashram College into a boot camp”. He asked forgiveness of four boys by name; their names are not given here.

Mayapur, 1975–1979. He wrote that physical punishment was “institutionalized” in the Indian gurukulas, confirming former students’ accounts of a paddle used on children, and that as headmaster he “had little real control over policy”. He wrote that he stopped hitting children after he was injured in the 1977 attack on the Mayapur temple, except once, when he “tried to slap a boy who refused to immediately obey a command”.

The letter was published by VOICE, an anonymous group of former gurukula students, which said it strongly disagreed with his attempts to explain the abuse but recognised that he had shown courage in publicly acknowledging his role. The original letter has not been seen; no other copy and no later public statement by him on the subject have been found. He died in 2024.

His response

The letter is itself his statement: "I wish to take this opportunity to beg forgiveness for all those acts of violence towards innocent children in which I was involved." He attributed the violence to inexperience, overwork and a "militant spirit" at New Vrindavan, and wrote: "It took me far too long to realize that I was wrong." [1]

Sources (1)

[1]VOICE (Violations of ISKCON Children Exposed), Iskcon child abusers named — a website of anonymous former gurukula students; copy on iskcon-truth.com (critic website); letter by Jan Brzezinski (Jagadananda Das, formerly Hiranyagarbha Das) "Dear anonymous writers and organizers of VOICE", received 5 January 1997, reproduced in full (§2.9), Jan 5, 1997 original copy on this site

Places

People affected

1 people affected · 0 died

Pupils at ISKCON schools in New Vrindaban, Dallas and Mayapur, 1972–1977In a signed letter of 1997 Jagadananda Das begged forgiveness for "acts of violence towards innocent children" in his care as a teacher and headmaster, especially at New Vrindaban in 1974, and asked forgiveness of four boys by name Abused.
ConnectionAdmitted

Timeline

Each status change in this record, on one axis, with the periods of the cases Jagadananda Das is involved in.

Showing 1 of 1

Admitted Jan 5, 1997 Violence against children in his care as a gurukula teacher and headmaster (admitted)

19961998

1997
- AdmittedJan 5, 1997 Violence against children in his care as a gurukula teacher and headmaster (admitted) Signed letter to the former students' website VOICE: "There is little that I can say to exonerate myself from personal acts of violence against some of the children in my care, especially at New Vrindavan." The only copy found is VOICE's reproduction; no ISKCON or court body examined these acts.