Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami
Legal name Ronald Nay
GopinathGopinath dasaGopinath dasGopinatha dasaRVC SwamiRadha Vrindavan Chandra SwamiRadha-Vrindaban Chandra Swami
- First headmaster of the Nandagram Boys School (gurukula), New Vrindaban
- 1976
- Teacher at the Nandagram school after his time as headmaster (c. 1980)
- 1980
- Secretary, treasurer and confidant of Kirtanananda Swami (Bhaktipada)
- Took the name Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami in 1986
- 1986
Protected by · 1
Kirtanananda SwamiIn late 1983 Kirtanananda reportedly refused to discipline Gopinath (later Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami) when a resident reported that Gopinath had sexually molested his young son and demanded his expulsion ("If you put it that way, it looks like you're leaving"); the family left and Gopinath kept teaching at the school.
Record summary
2 entries — 2 ISKCON findings.
Last reviewedBio
Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami, known until 1986 as Gopinath dasa (legal name Ronald Nay), was born in 1948 in the American Midwest. He first visited the New Vrindaban community in West Virginia in June 1973, from Louisville, Kentucky, and was initiated there as Gopinath dasa in December 1973. When the Nandagram Boys School, the community’s gurukula (boarding school), opened in about August 1976, he became its first headmaster. Sri Galima Dasa later took over as headmaster, and in about 1980 Gopinath was photographed teaching Sanskrit to the older boys at Nandagram.
He became Kirtanananda Swami’s secretary, treasurer and confidant, and in 1986 took the name Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami. In about 1995 he was reportedly pressured to leave New Vrindaban because he had abused gurukula boys, and in about 1996 a former Nandagram pupil had him evicted from the Brooklyn ISKCON temple. He stayed with Kirtanananda Swami after Kirtanananda’s expulsion from ISKCON. In 2008 they moved together to India, and when Kirtanananda died in 2011 he announced that Kirtanananda would be buried in Vrindavan. No criminal charge against him has been found. Whether he is alive is not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Sources (3)
- [1]henrydoktorski.com, Timeline of Important Events for Gold, Guns and God, Killing For Krishna and Eleven Naked Emperors (Henry Doktorski) — author's book page
- [2]henrydoktorski.com, Gold, Guns and God, Vol. 4: Deviations in the Dhama (Henry Doktorski) — contents and illustrations on the author's book page
- [3]ISKCON Truth, New Vrindavan: Who is who? — critic blog; anonymous list of New Vrindaban figures, March 2011
Record
2 entries · most established firstBeating boys at the Nandagram gurukula, New Vrindaban
Former pupils of the Nandagram boys' school at New Vrindaban say that Gopinath, its first headmaster, beat young children. One said he gave him "the beatings of my life" at the age of four. Another remembers him as the school's "enforcer". ISKCON's child-protection office reportedly found in 1999 that he had physically and sexually abused boys at New Vrindaban.
In a 2023 account, a former pupil who started at the Nandagram ashram aged nine wrote that Sri Galim was the headmaster and that “Gopinath was the guy who kicked the shit out of the kids- the enforcer”. He wrote that on his first day, when he could not eat the oat gruel served for breakfast, Gopinath shouted at him, hit him hard and kicked him, and beat him until he ate it off the dirty floor. He also wrote that boys who vomited were made to eat their vomit off the floor. His account and the other pupil’s have not been tested. No response from Gopinath has been found.
- 1996Documented allegationA former Nandagram pupil, who said "Gopinath gave me the beatings of my life when I was just four years old", reportedly had him evicted from the Brooklyn ISKCON temple in about 1996.
- 1999ISKCON findingAs reported in a history of New Vrindaban, ISKCON's Central Office of Child Protection concluded an investigation and determined that he "had physically abused and sexually molested boys at New Vrindaban". The decision itself has not been seen.
The child-protection office's decision of August 1999 is known only from one published history of New Vrindaban; any sanctions it imposed have not been found. He was reportedly pressured to leave New Vrindaban in about 1995. No criminal charge has been found.
Sources (3)
- [1]ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection — Determination on Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami (Gopinath dasa), 30 August 1999 (not published; reported in Henry Doktorski, Gold, Guns and God, vol. 4, pp. 402–403), Aug 30, 1999
- [2]henrydoktorski.com, Timeline of Important Events for Gold, Guns and God, Killing For Krishna and Eleven Naked Emperors (Henry Doktorski) — author's book page original
- [3]Vedic Inquirer – Advancing Child Protection, My First Day in Gurukula — Facebook group; first-hand account by a former Nandagram pupil, July 2023
Sexual abuse of boys at New Vrindaban
ISKCON's child-protection office reportedly determined in 1999 that Gopinath (later Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami), the former headmaster of the New Vrindaban boys' school, had sexually molested boys there, including forcing at least one to perform oral sex on him. In 1983 a family left the community after Kirtanananda Swami refused to discipline him for abusing their young son.
An anonymous 2011 list of New Vrindaban figures says that Gopinath was “caught abusing one of the students he had ‘under him’” while headmaster, and that “the abused boy and his family had to leave NV”. It also says he was “never charged with any crimes”.
No court record found. West Virginia University’s 2025 finding aid for a donated collection of New Vrindaban records describes “Ronald Nay (Gopinath/RVC Swami)” as “Headmaster of New Vrindaban school and community archivist, ultimately charged with sexually abusing boys”. It does not say who brought the charge, and it repeats the donor’s account rather than making an independent finding. No criminal complaint, indictment or court record against him has been found in the free federal and West Virginia case-law collections searched in October 2026, and the finding aid lists no file in his name in its legal-records series.
- 1983Documented allegationIn late 1983 a long-time resident reportedly left New Vrindaban with his family after Kirtanananda Swami refused to discipline Gopinath for sexually abusing the resident's young son.
- 1999ISKCON findingAs reported in a history of New Vrindaban, ISKCON's Central Office of Child Protection determined that he "had physically abused and sexually molested boys at New Vrindaban, including forcing at least one to perform oral sex on him". The decision itself has not been seen.
Kirtanananda Swami reportedly refused to discipline him in 1983. In about 1995 he was reportedly pressured to leave New Vrindaban because, in the words of one history, he had "physically and sexually abused gurukula boys in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s", and in August 1999 the child-protection office is reported to have ruled against him. Any sanctions it imposed have not been found. No criminal charge has been found.
Sources (5)
- [4]ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection — Determination on Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami (Gopinath dasa), 30 August 1999 (not published; reported in Henry Doktorski, Gold, Guns and God, vol. 4, pp. 402–403), Aug 30, 1999
- [5]henrydoktorski.com, Timeline of Important Events for Gold, Guns and God, Killing For Krishna and Eleven Naked Emperors (Henry Doktorski) — author's book page original
- [6]henrydoktorski.com, Gold, Guns and God, Vol. 4: Deviations in the Dhama (Henry Doktorski) — ch. 45 ("Gopinath molests boys"); contents on the author's book page original
- [7]West Virginia University Libraries, Henry Doktorski, Compiler, Records regarding Kirtanananda Bhaktipada Swami and the New Vrindaban Commune, A&M 4646 — finding aid, Apr 17, 2025 original
- [8]ISKCON Truth, New Vrindavan: Who is who? — critic blog; anonymous list of New Vrindaban figures, March 2011 original
Places
1People affected
1 people affected · 0 died- Boys at the Nandagram school, New Vrindaban, 1976–1995ISKCON's child-protection office reportedly found in 1999 that the school's headmaster, Gopinath (Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami), physically abused and sexually molested boys. Former pupils describe being beaten, one of them at the age of four, and in 1983 a family left the community after his abuse of their young son went undisciplined Abused.ConnectionISKCON finding
Timeline
Each status change in this record, on one axis, with the periods of the cases Radha Vrindaban Chandra Swami is involved in.
- 1983
- Documented allegation1983 Sexual abuse of boys at New Vrindaban In late 1983 a long-time resident reportedly left New Vrindaban with his family after Kirtanananda Swami refused to discipline Gopinath for sexually abusing the resident's young son.
- 1996
- Documented allegation1996 Beating boys at the Nandagram gurukula, New Vrindaban A former Nandagram pupil, who said "Gopinath gave me the beatings of my life when I was just four years old", reportedly had him evicted from the Brooklyn ISKCON temple in about 1996.
- 1999
- ISKCON findingAug 30, 1999 Beating boys at the Nandagram gurukula, New Vrindaban As reported in a history of New Vrindaban, ISKCON's Central Office of Child Protection concluded an investigation and determined that he "had physically abused and sexually molested boys at New Vrindaban". The decision itself has not been seen.
- ISKCON findingAug 30, 1999 Sexual abuse of boys at New Vrindaban As reported in a history of New Vrindaban, ISKCON's Central Office of Child Protection determined that he "had physically abused and sexually molested boys at New Vrindaban, including forcing at least one to perform oral sex on him". The decision itself has not been seen.