# ISKCON — Hare Krishna · The Cult Dossier · The Atlas · The Congregation of Tomorrow

Source: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/atlas/library/cults/055-iskcon-hare-krishna/ · The Congregation of Tomorrow · the Atlas · language: en
The same words a person sees on this page, nothing more and nothing hidden.
Our own words are free to use under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), naming the Congregation of Tomorrow. Words of others keep their own terms.
Every page of the site, listed: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/ai/pages.json · the whole site in one file: https://congregationoftomorrow.org/llms-full.txt

← The Cult Dossier: all 182
The Cult Dossier · No. 055 · Eastern-Derived
ISKCON — Hare Krishna
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
13 July 1966 – present · New York; worldwide; New Vrindaban, West Virginia
VI. THE 1970s — THE GREAT PROLIFERATION
Fully religious — a legitimate branch of Gaudiya Vaishnavism
### Who led it
### What it worshipped and taught
### Who was in it
### How it ended, or where it stands
### The dead
### Of note
### Its timeline
- 13 July 1966 ISKCON incorporated in New York.
- 1969 George Harrison produces the Hare Krishna Mantra single; it reaches the UK top 20.
- 1968 New Vrindaban community founded in West Virginia by Kirtanananda.
- 14 November 1977 Prabhupada dies; the eleven-guru zonal acharya system is installed.
- 1980s Catastrophic breakdown at New Vrindaban: drug dealing, weapons stockpiling, illegal fundraising and two murders.
- 22 May 1986 STEVEN BRYANT (Sulochana), who was preparing to publish The Guru Business exposing Kirtanananda, is shot dead in Los Angeles by Thomas Drescher.
- 1987 Kirtanananda expelled from ISKCON; New Vrindaban expelled in 1988.
- 1990, 1996 Kirtanananda convicted of racketeering; ultimately pleads guilty in 1996 and serves eight years. He dies in 2011.
- 1998 ISKCON's own investigation, published in the journal ISKCON Communications, acknowledges widespread physical and sexual abuse of children in its gurukula boarding schools in India and the United States during the 1970s and 1980s.
- JUNE 2000 Children of ISKCON v. ISKCON — around 90 to 100 former gurukula students file a 400 million dollar suit alleging abuse at boarding schools in the United States and India.
- 2002 ISKCON FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY in federal court, which moves the claims into bankruptcy proceedings.
- MAY 2005 A US BANKRUPTCY COURT ORDERS ISKCON TO PAY 9.5 MILLION DOLLARS. Reported figures for the number of claimants differ — about 450 in the contemporaneous reporting, with the eventual pool of former gurukula students involved put at 600 or more. The initial filing group of roughly 90 had grown several times over.
- 2005–2008 The settlement is administered through the bankruptcy and a child protection office is established.
### Its people
### A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Abhay Charan De; Srila Prabhupada
Founder, ISKCON · 1 September 1896 – 14 November 1977 · active 1966–1977
Before the law. None.
Where things stand. Deceased 1977. ISKCON survives worldwide and has publicly acknowledged and settled its abuse history.
- 1965 Arrives in New York aged 69.
- 13 July 1966 ISKCON incorporated.
- 1969 George Harrison produces the Hare Krishna Mantra single.
- 14 November 1977 Dies; the eleven zonal acharyas take over.
- 1980s The succession system collapses into scandal, racketeering and two murders.
Checked 2026-08-24
### Kirtanananda Swami
Keith Ham; Bhaktipada
Founder, New Vrindaban · 6 September 1937 – 24 October 2011 · active 1968–1994
Before the law. CONVICTED of racketeering; ultimately pleaded guilty in 1996 and served eight years. Never convicted of the murder itself.
Where things stand. Deceased 2011.
- 1968 Founds New Vrindaban.
- 22 May 1986 Steven Bryant (Sulochana) shot dead in Los Angeles.
- 1987 Expelled from ISKCON.
- 1990 Convicted of racketeering; conviction overturned on appeal 1993.
- 1996 Pleads guilty to racketeering; serves eight years.
- 24 October 2011 Dies in India.
Checked
### Thomas Drescher
Tirtha
Enforcer, New Vrindaban · born c.1950 · active 1980s
Before the law. CONVICTED OF TWO MURDERS, and serving LIFE WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE for the 1986 killing of Steven Bryant (Sulochana Das), whom he shot twice in the head in LOS ANGELES. That term runs CONSECUTIVELY with a life sentence he was ALREADY SERVING IN WEST VIRGINIA for a separate murder. THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS FOR THIS DOSSIER: DRESCHER TESTIFIED THAT HE CARRIED OUT THE ASSASSINATION AT THE WISH OF HIS SPIRITUAL LEADER, KIRTANANANDA SWAMI BHAKTIPADA (Keith Ham) — see L049. He is known in the movement as TIRTHA DAS.
Where things stand. Incarcerated.
- 1983 Kills Charles St Denis, a New Vrindaban member.
- 22 May 1986 Shoots Steven Bryant (Sulochana) dead in Los Angeles.
- 1987 Convicted of the St Denis murder in West Virginia.
- 1980s–90s Convicted of the Bryant murder in California; life sentences.
Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home
### Steven Bryant
Sulochana dasa
ISKCON dissident murdered for exposing New Vrindaban · 1952 – 22 May 1986 · active 1970s–1986
Before the law. His killer was convicted of murder and is serving life.
Where things stand. Deceased 1986, aged 33.
- 1970s Joins ISKCON.
- 1980s His family is absorbed into New Vrindaban and his marriage dissolved by the leadership.
- 1985–86 Compiles The Guru Business; warns friends that he expects to be killed.
- 22 MAY 1986 Shot dead in Los Angeles by Thomas Drescher.
- 1987–90s Drescher convicted of this and another murder; Kirtanananda expelled and later convicted of racketeering.
Checked
The Atlas The Door