Radhanath Swami

Who makes the allegation, and on what basis. The claims come from Henry Doktorski, a former New Vrindaban resident who has written its history. He reports them as accounts given to him decades after the events by men who describe themselves as participants in the plot, including Janmastami dasa and Jyotirdhama dasa. None of these accounts has been tested in court. In a 2018 interview he called Radhanath Swami “one of the three conspirators that the government, for whatever reason, decided not to prosecute”. In the same interview he said he had been “a rank-and-file devotee” who “wasn’t privy to the behind-the-scenes stuff”. In a 2016 preface to his 2007 essay he wrote: “I did not accuse Radhanath of being a member of the conspiracy to murder Sulochan, although I believe the evidence against him is substantial.”

Testimony at the 1991 federal trial. Copies of pages from the court reporter’s transcript of Kirtanananda Swami’s 1991 trial (Day IV, 14 March 1991) show that Dennis Gorrick (Dharmatma dasa), the community’s fundraising supervisor, was called by the prosecution and testified under oath that after the murder Kuladri (Arthur Villa) “was quite disturbed” and “had mentioned how he was very disturbed and how it shouldn’t have been done like that. And that how Mr. Slavin, Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Sheldon were pushing like crazy for this to happen, and how he had told them not to do it.” Gorrick added that Kuladri “used their Krishna names” (p. 833). Slavin is Radhanath Swami’s birth name. This is Gorrick’s sworn account of what another man told him, given at another person’s trial; it is not a charge or finding against Radhanath Swami. Gorrick also testified that a day or so later “Mr. Swami” (Kirtanananda Swami) drove up to his house in his car “along with … Mr. Slavin” (a garbled word precedes the name in the transcript), and that Kirtanananda Swami asked whether he had “six thousand dollars cash in the house” (p. 835); the pages seen do not record anything said by Slavin. A 2011 compilation by Krishna Dasa quotes further pages that have not been seen for this record, in which Gorrick says that when he asked whether the money was so that Tirtha and Tapahpunja could leave the country, “Bhaktipada and Radhanath smiled and nodded their heads”; that passage is not in the pages seen. The compilation also renders the p. 833 testimony with Krishna names (“Radhanath, Hayagriva and Tapahpunja”) rather than the transcript’s wording. The Fourth Circuit’s 1993 account says Terry Sheldon “picked up $6,000 for Drescher from Swami” and does not mention Radhanath Swami. Kuladri himself testified, as quoted: “I know Tapahpunja, along with other swamis, were saying that the community had to do whatever is necessary to protect the Swami.” In a 1994 letter to Hansadutta, Gorrick wrote that Radhanath Swami “was involved to some degree or had knowledge of Sulochan’s murder. I know this for a fact.”

Janmastami dasa’s account. Janmastami dasa, who says he travelled with Drescher to find Bryant, wrote in December 2006: “In January of 1986, on my return to New Vrindaban, I was ordered by Radhanath to neutralize Sulochana. Three of us were ordered by Radhanath, not by Kirtanananda Swami, to terminate Sulochana. This happened with Tapahpunja Swami and Tirtha in November and December of 1985.” He says Radhanath Swami met him in his van and gave “a prepared speech that he had delivered to Tirtha, Tapah Punja Swami and Kuladri many times before”. In other writings he attributes to Radhanath Swami the words “this guy must be transmigrated to his next body” and describes him justifying the killing from the Bhagavad-gita. These are his own accounts and have not been tested in court. Drescher’s letter of 24 December 2006, written to defend Radhanath Swami, confirmed that Janmastami had taken part (“accompanying myself on several trips to California . . . The only reason Janmashtami was not prosecuted and sent to prison was because I shielded him from the authorities”). Navadvipchandra Das (2015) argues that this makes Janmastami’s account of Radhanath Swami’s role more credible; Drescher’s letter itself was written in Radhanath Swami’s defence.

Further accounts given to an author. The 2011 compilation also reports that Bhaktipada’s driver, Priyavenu dasa, said he was present “when Radhanath told Janmastami to ‘destroy the demon’”; that a former gurukula student, Harivrata dasa, said he overheard the same; and that when a fundraiser, Ramachandra dasa, asked Radhanath Swami who killed Sulochan, he answered “I don’t know, but whoever it was, he was doing devotional service to Krishna”. All three were conversations with the author (2003–2007) and have not been independently confirmed.

The telephone operator’s account (2019). Jyotirdhama dasa (Joseph Pollock Jr.), who says he ran New Vrindaban’s telephone switchboard and helped with the plot’s communications, wrote a first-person account in 2019, published as an addendum to Killing for Krishna. He writes that Kuladri, the temple president, told him: “It’s all set. Everything’s in place. The swamis are on board. Gaura is helping with surveillance. We just need your help with the telephones”, and that “to me ‘the swamis are on board’ meant that Radhanath and Tapahpunja swamis were active participants” — his own reading of Kuladri’s words. He writes that Gaura Shakti, another participant, then told him: “Radhanath Maharaja is preaching that Sulochan is a demon and needs to be transmigrated to his next body” — a second-hand report. He also says that in February 1986 call traffic through the switchboard rose, and that the increase came from calls involving Kuladri, Gaura Shakti and the swamis Radhanath and Tapahpunja. In a later endnote he writes that he, Janmastami and Dharmatma, “who have spoken publicly about Radhanath’s involvement in the murder all liked him and yet we know that he ordered the murder”, and that no ISKCON authority has contacted him to check his story. The account presents no documents and has not been tested in court.

What the official record shows. The Fourth Circuit’s 1993 opinion in the Kirtanananda (Keith Ham) case recounts the Bryant killing and does not name Radhanath Swami; nor does its 1995 opinion in the same case. West Virginia University’s finding aid for a collection of New Vrindaban records it holds lists a folder titled “Richard Slavin Police Statements, 1989-1994” (A&M 4646, Box 12, Folder 12); its contents have not been seen. The title fits the GBC Executive Committee’s statement that he was questioned by investigators; it is not a charge. In 1994 the GBC appointed him an assistant GBC member and initiating guru “provided the United States Government does not indict him in its case now pending against Kirtananda Swami”. No indictment followed. West Virginia University’s 2025 finding aid describes him as “involved in the conspiracy to murder Steven Bryant”. It describes a collection compiled and donated by the author of Killing for Krishna, so it repeats his view and is not an independent finding.

Other accounts. In 2006–07 Thomas Drescher, who was convicted of the killing, publicly defended Radhanath Swami, as did GBC members Malati devi dasi and Ravindra-Svarupa dasa (as recorded in the 2016 preface). In his 2007 statement Radhanath Swami said Janmastami dasa had blamed him in 1993 for leading “a conspiracy against Kirtanananda Swami” and had repeatedly threatened him since.

ISKCON’s statement, approved by the GBC Executive Committee, summarises the film’s claim and his answer: “In the film, Radhanatha Swami denies opposing the removal of Sri Galim from New Vrndavana and explains that his concern was for Galim’s wife and children. The film indicates otherwise, without conclusive evidence.” Sri Galima dasa’s own record is on this site.

The same statement responds to the film’s argument that Radhanath Swami lacks concern for abuse victims because he paid respects at Kirtanananda Swami’s grave: “While such respect may be misdirected, it is clearly not an endorsement of abuse.”

In April 1991, after the child-abuse evidence against Kirtanananda Swami had been aired at his federal trial, Radhanath Swami praised him in the community’s magazine: “Bhaktipada is a man of spirit. He is not a man of external form, and he’s been training us intensely” (New Vrindaban World, no. 8, 26 April 1991, as quoted by Navadvipchandra Das, 2015). Critics cite this as evidence that he continued to promote Kirtanananda Swami; the quotation itself does not refer to the abuse.

A separate claim, made in reader commentary on a New Vrindaban historian’s website, that Radhanath Swami heard reports of Kirtanananda Swami abusing gurukula boys as early as 1987 has not been found in the author’s published book and is not counted here.

The talks. Dhanurdhara Swami’s website records talks he gave at the Bhakti Center, among them “The Later Pastimes of Sri Caitanya” on 22 May 2012 and “Aesthetics & Spirituality”, “part of the Tuesday Night Sanga series at the Bhakti Center”, on 16 September 2014. The Bhakti Center’s own blog described a 2012 retreat “led by two of The Bhakti Center’s regular speakers – His Holiness Dhanurdhara Swami and beloved New York yoga teacher Raghunath Cappo”.

Radhanath Swami’s role. In a 2018 essay on the Bhakti Center, Dhanurdhara Swami wrote: “Radhanath Swami and other senior leaders at the Bhakti Center saw the potential of the second generation Hare Krishna devotees.” The Bhakti Center’s own pages reviewed do not name him as founder or director, and no source found says that he invited Dhanurdhara Swami or approved his classes.

The photograph. The editors hold a photograph of Radhanath Swami and Dhanurdhara Swami together at the Bhakti Center, taken between 2012 and 2014; it is published on this site with its metadata removed. The photographer and exact date are not recorded.

Whether the child-protection restrictions on Dhanurdhara Swami in force at the time barred him from giving such talks is not established here. No statement by Radhanath Swami about Dhanurdhara Swami has been found.