Krishna Names
Advaita: Emile Sofsky, aka John Jenkins; allegedly established and supervised a smuggling ring that brought hash oil from India and Pakistan to the United States.
Ambudrara: Debra Gere; common-law wife of Charles St. Denis, the murdered New Vrindaban "fringie" and marijuana dealer.
Atreya Rishi: ISKCON GBC member who became locked in a struggle with Keith Ham (Kirtanananda) and Hans Kary (Hansadutta) for control of the Berkeley temple.
Bahudaka: Peter Chatterton, president of the Vancouver temple; Krishna reformist.
Balimardan: President of New York temple expelled by Prabhupada.
Bhagavan: William Ehrlichman, ISKCON guru overseeing the European temples, whose imperious governing style and fondness for luxury earned him the nickname "The Sun King."
Bhaktisiddhanta: The Indian guru who converted Prabhupada to Krishna Consciousness in 1922.
Bhavananda: Charles Backus, ISKCON guru overseeing the Australian temples, excommunicated for improprieties.
Brahmananda: Bruce Scharf, president of ISKCON's first temple, at 26 Second Avenue in New York City.
Chakradara: Charles St. Denis, New Vrindaban "fringie" and marijuana dealer murdered by Thomas Drescher and Dan Reid.
Chitta: Cynthia, second wife of Steven Hebel.
Darpada: Ronald Roy Walters, gunsmith and weapons procurer for the Berkeley temple; held three federal firearms licenses.
Daruka: Dan Reid, New Vrindaban devotee accomplice of Thomas Drescher (Tirtha) in the murder of Charles St. Denis (Chakradara).
Dharmaraja: Devin Wheeler, son of Howard Wheeler (Hayagriva); also known as Samba; as a child, the constant companion of Keith Ham (Kirtanananda).
Dharmatma: Dennis Gorrick, leader of the New Vrindaban women's sankirtan team.
Goverdhan: Michael Pugliese, aka Dino Bhandu, aka Lance Presley; Hansadutta's driver and personal servant in Berkeley.
Guru Kripa: Gregory Gottfried, president of the Tokyo temple; leader of sankirtan team operating in Japan.
Hansadutta: Hans Kary, ISKCON guru residing at the Berkeley temple, who mixed Krishna Consciousness with rock and roll, guns, and paranoia.
Harikesa: ISKCON guru; one of the eleven rtvik acharyas who succeeded Prabhupada.
Hayagriva: Howard Wheeler, close friend of Keith Ham (Kirtanananda) and early Krishna devotee; chronicler of the early years of the Krishna movement.
Himavati: Helena, wife of Hans Kary (Hansadutta).
Jadurani: Judy Koslofsky, the first brahmacharini (unmarried female) to join ISKCON; beaten up at New Vrindaban for questioning Kirtanananda's status as a guru.
Jamuna: Jane, wife of Steve Bryant (Sulocana); later married Ralph Seward.
Jayatirtha: James Immel, London guru who mixed LSD with chanting Hare Krishna; expelled from ISKCON; started his own movement under the name of Tirthapada; decapitated by one of his followers.
Jitendriya: Patrick Manning, New Vrindaban treasurer.
Jiva: James Underwood, ex-convict, head of Berkeley women's sankirtan team; supervised the "radio scam."
Kanka: Susan, first wife of Steven Hebel (Swarup); star member of the New Vrindaban women's sankirtan team before fleeing the commune with her children.
Kirtanananda: Keith Ham, His Divine Grace, Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada; early Krishna devotee, guru, founder of New Vrindaban temple.
Krishna Das: Rinnian, son of Jane Bryant and her former boyfriend John Morgan.
Kuladri: Arthur Villa, president of the New Vrindaban temple; Kirtanananda's right-hand man.
Mahaprabhu: Lord Chaitanya (1485-1533), founder of bhakti yoga and Krishna Consciousness.
Mahara: Mary St. John, wife of Thomas Meyers (Taru).
Mukunda: Michael Grant, former jazz musician and early devotee of Prabhupada, who opened the San Francisco temple; now ISKCON's director of public relations.
Naranayana: Nathan Zakheim, early ISKCON member; a carpenter who helped build temples across America.
Nataipada: Former ISKCON devotee who joined Jayatirtha-Tirthapada's splinter group in Nepal; allegedly murdered after threatening to expose the group's use of LSD.
Navaniticara: John Tiemey, member of Jayatirtha-Tirthapada's splinter group accused of decapitating his spiritual master in London.
Nimai: Son of Steve Bryant (Sulocana); drowned in a man-made lake at New Vrindaban.
Nistrigunya: Steve Forbes, longtime friend of Steve Bryant (Sulocana).
Prabhupada: His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON.
Prithu: Peter Brinkmann, president of the Belfast temple.
Radheya: Son of Charles St. Denis; suffocated with Rohini in an abandoned refrigerator at New Vrindaban.
Ramesvara: Robert Grant, ISKCON guru residing at the Los Angeles temple; president of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT).
Rashadeva: Roy Christopher Richard, president of the Laguna Beach Temple, and drug runner.
Ravindra Svarupa: William Deadwyler, president of the Philadelphia temple; leader of the ISKCON reform movement.
Rohini: Son of Dan and Brenda Reid; suffocated with Radheya in an abandoned refrigerator at New Vrindaban.
Samba: Devin Wheeler, son of Howard Wheeler (Hayagriva); also known as Dhannaraja.
Sarva Dharma: Son of Steve Bryant (Sulocana).
Satsvarupa: Former ISKCON guru; author of six-volume biography of Prabhupada.
Sri Galima: Larry Gardner, former headmaster of the boys' guru kula at New Vrindaban; wanted by police for sexually molesting his students.
Sulocana: Steve Bryant, a New Vrindaban devotee who challenged the authority of Keith Ham (Kirtanananda) and sought to expose illegal activities at New Vrindaban; murdered in 1986.
Swarup: Steven Hebel, an early ISKCON devotee, married to Susan (Kanka) then Cynthia (Chitta); later became a drug runner.
Syamasundara: One of six devotees Prabhupada sent to London in 1968 to open a temple; became friendly with George Harrison of the Beatles.
Tamal Krishna: Thomas Hertzog, GBC member; became one of the eleven rtvik acharyas after Prabhupada's death.
Tapahpunja: Terry Sheldon; succeeded Kuladri as Kirtanananda's right-hand man, and former president of the Cleveland temple.
Taru: Thomas Meyers, an intellectual New Vrindaban devotee, who disappeared during the winter of 1980 and has not been seen since.
Tirtha: Thomas Drescher, New Vrindaban's enforcer; convicted murderer and drug dealer.
Triyogi: Michael Shockman, a mentally disturbed devotee who in 1985 attacked Kirtanananda with a steel spike, fracturing his skull.
Vipra: Vladimir Vassilievich, aka Vladimir Panasenko; a Berkeley devotee who built guns for Hansadutta.