Eleven Naked Emperors
The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977-1987)
a book by
Henry Doktorski
© 2020 by Henry Doktorski
Publication Date: January 31, 2020

The eleven ISKCON zonal acharyas

Cover image: The eleven ISKCON zonal acharyas with a painting of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder/Acharya of ISKCON (Mayapur, India, c. August 1978). From left to right: Harikesh Swami Vishnupada, Jayatirtha dasa Tirthapada, Hamsadutta Swami Krishna Kirtan Thakur, Hrdayananda Goswami Acharyapada, Ramesvara Swami, Bhagavan Maharaja Gurudeva, Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, Tamal-Krishna Goswami Gurudeva, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami Gurupada, Bhavananda Goswami Vishnupada, Jayapataka Swami Acharyapada.

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Acclamations
Edwin Bryant

January 20, 2020: Eleven Naked Emperors is quite masterful, and extremely important. The story is a long and complicated one, but Doktorski has done an outstanding job putting the entire drama into a very well documented and highly readable account. His tone is remarkably non-partisan, non-polemical and he has tried sincerely to be fair and impartial. I might add, for those who feel that dirty laundry should not be displayed in public, that there is nothing in Doktorski’s work that seeks to undermine the faith of the devotees in Krishna or, for that matter, in the institution of ISKCON. Those assuming the role of gurus, most especially, should read this book carefully. And this is also a book for the tens of thousands of devotees driven away from ISKCON with their spiritual ideals in tatters; this is their story too. The author has risen to the dharma of the historian in documenting a defining period in the history of the Hare Krishna movement.

Edwin Bryant
Professor of Hindu Philosophy and Religion
Rutgers University




David A. Calton

May 20, 2020: Thanks to Henry for writing his second book about the Hare Krishnas, Eleven Naked Emperors! This book helps fill in some chapters not only in the history of ISKCON, but the rise of “Hinduism” in America and and larger cultural trends that resonate with many contemporary issues.

The process of Bhakti-Yoga is the hidden theme all throughout the book, though Henry takes a scientific “just-the-facts” approach, allowing the reader to interpret the facts for themselves. The narrative of the people involved clearly shows the Bhakti-Yoga process of how these men who surrendered to Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada changed their lives based on the teachings of Bhagavad-gita, despite various bad decisions or even criminal activity committed and documented.

Henry’s approach also allows the lesson learned from this “social experiment” to be useful not only for ISKCON or people affiliated with the Hare Krishna movement, but also for students of psychology, Hinduism, spirituality, law, sociology, music, religion, interfaith, American culture, even fields like management and many others can gain insights from a objective history of Kirtanananda Swami, ISKCON and New Vrindaben, and appreciate Henry’s efforts to bring this historical narrative to fruition.

I look forward to reading Henry’s forthcoming grand project of a detailed biography of Kirtanananda Swami and the history of New Vrindaban. And hopefully the third book will allow people under the full scope of the evidence to see how deeply flawed people were still able to come together and accomplish great things that are a chapter in American history.

Continued blessings & success, and hopes that Henry can complete his third book soon!

David A. Calton
Host of the Doooovid Internet Streaming Show
Detroit, Michigan




Patita-Pavana dasa

May 16, 2021: Regarding Eleven Naked Emperors, this response is for those who assert, “I am offended by what Doktorski has written.”

Actually, I am likewise offended, and I am sure that whatever you and I feel, Doktorski feels thousands of times worse—or why would he have written a dozen volumes of books about cheating gurus? The fact is, the author has worked overtime to compile a series of well-documented historical events—the good, the bad, and all the ugly right there in plain sight.

Indeed, Eleven Naked Emperors is actually a form of scripture known as gramya-sastra, or “village news.” People like us who are offended—not by the book but by the arrogance of the players in high places described in Eleven Naked Emperors—should know that there is no scriptural instruction that advises anyone to read gramya-sastra. Likewise, there is no injunction anywhere in the sastras that opposes reading gramya-sastra.

In other words, there is no violation of dharma when it comes to understanding the facts of the past, and neither is anyone forcing us to read it, either. However, the fact that each of Doktorski’s books rapidly goes into one printing after another, proves that there is substantial interest by some very intelligent persons in what actually transpired in ISKCON and New Vrindaban while the leaders slept.

As Prabhupada once stated to this effect, “Let them read—it is history.”

In other words, Doktorski’s books are not fiction but fact. They are not “historical novels” or any sort of wishful thinking. Neither is this “mental speculation.” They are not what could have happened or “based on some true story.” Since the facts of the matter are engraved in stone, there is no point in being offended by unchangeable history. The message is “learn the lessons from what happened, and then move on.”

No intelligent person should ignore the stories behind the events of ISKCON’s growth, either. The examples of eleven power-crazed individuals—who foolishly thought that they could do no wrong yet who have wound up on the cover of a book about gurus in the raw—should be a wake-up call for future generations. At the very least, the case of threadbare monarchs in their birthday suits should be a lesson for the more thoughtful and controlled among us. The wise are never afraid to learn from history.

Henry Doktorski, who gave the best years of his life and his vast musical talents to New Vrindaban, has therefore rendered each of us a great service. It is better to learn about the sad destinies of the “fools who rushed in where wise men feared to tread” than to experience the results of arrogance.

In other words, the wisdom of historical vision dictates that it is better to read Eleven Naked Emperors than to find one’s self on the cover!

Patita-Uddharana dasa (Miles Davis), ACBSP
Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria

Image: Patita-Uddharana on harinam in Manhattan (Summer 1969)




Atmavidya dasa

Eleven Naked Emperors: A Very Brief Review

May 20, 2021: I just finished reading Eleven Naked Emperors by Henry Doktorski (2020 Edition).

I found it so well and interestingly written that I could hardly put it down until I had finished reading it. The book seems to be very well researched—plus, the author brings more than 15 years of personal experience in the Hare Krishna Movement to the table. I was quite amazed how unbiased it is—which is not an easy task. Throughout the book the author offers different accounts allowing the reader to come to his own conclusions. Representatives from any camp get a chance to voice their experiences and opinions, often on the same incident or subject.

Would I recommend reading it? Yes, absolutely. To anyone? Yes, sure.

Apart from some minor nonessential errors that I detected, there is this one thing I have reservations about—but I do not blame the author for it: In his concluding chapter with his suggestions and food for thought it becomes obvious to me that the author (who joined after the departure of Srila Prabhupada) never met His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in person.

There is something about Srila Prabhupada that I find impossible to “explain” or “describe” to the devotees of the younger generation—no matter how many recordings they watched or listened to, or how much they studied his literature. It is something like this:

Being in Srila Prabhupada’s personal presence took you out of this material world, at least for the duration of being with him. Fatigue, hunger, sensual desires, impersonal concepts, attraction to women (and vice versa), fear of death—all that faded almost completely into some far distant background. The self-realized, transcendentally situated pure devotee radiated that energy of the spiritual world to those around him.

Apart from morning walks, room conversations I distinctly remember how it was for me when he picked up the karatalas before giving class. When his deep, grave, and nectarean voice filled the room with “Jaya Radha-Madhava” most of us were practically free of any desire for anything else for the time being. What could be more desirable and higher than being in the presence of Srila Prabhupada? It was a feeling almost like “Vaikuntha Can Wait.” I can only guess that was because for those moments we actually were in Vaikuntha.

Experiencing that transcendental reality was only possible in the personal presence of His Divine Grace. That is not to say that a sincere follower cannot attain perfection by just studying his divine literature. It is possible, but certainly not by the aberration and concoctions of the Ritvik-Walas.

Atmavidya dasa (Axel Stoecker)
Zeitz, Germany



June 13, 2021: Reading the Eleven Naked Emperors was a very clarifying experience. Being provided with all sorts of historical accounts in chronological order was like a puzzle that was gradually being put together.

I came to ISKCON in 2001, after the zonal-acharya system was disbanded, and was initiated by a “guru” who later turned out to be unfit for this service and had to step down. Over the years I got some informations from some people in regards to the history of the guru system in ISKCON and the Ritvik camp, but never such a detailed and thorough account as Henry provides in his book.

I very much appreciate the holistic and honest approach Henry takes. Many theological and philosophical issues, that go along with the previous and present guru system are being presented. Henry truthfully allows that all these viewpoints and arguments are being looked at objectively and critically. I didn’t sense any bias on his side.

Since many contemorary witnesses had a place to share their insights and experiences, I was provided with historical details which I would probably never have gotten otherwise. I felt as a reader that I was led to come to my own conclusions. That I appreciate a lot.

I think that ISKCON should establish a history department that honestly and truthfully presents the history of ISKCON “as it was” and not “as we would like you to believe it was,” written by their own people and not by others, as one of the people you interviewed points out in one place of the book. Great read!

Hare Krishna
Your servant

Keshava-Madhava dasa (Klaus Frenzel)
Zürich, Switzerland


Summary

DURING A DISPUTATIOUS DECADE, after they had buried the saintly Founder of the institution, the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)—more commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement—appointed eleven senior men as successors to the Founder in a political move which one disciple called “a bloodless coup.” Each of the eleven ruled their own geographic regions (zones), where they were erroneously regarded as pure and perfect beings (acharyas). They were considered beyond criticism and worshiped “as good as God.”

The eleven, however, pretended to be something they were not (like the main character in Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 tale: The Emperor’s New Clothes), and within a few short years insurmountable problems afflicted some of the ISKCON “gurus,” such as falling down into prohibited activities, like illicit sex and intoxication. Unfortunately, the astute and dedicated disciples who criticized the zonal “acharyas” were shunned, expelled, beaten, or (in one extreme case) assassinated. Hundreds, if not thousands of formerly-loyal members defected, were blacklisted, or (in two cases) committed suicide.

This reign of self-aggrandizement and political intrigue by the leaders appointed by the GBC, periodically characterized by strong-armed tactics, tainted the Society which had been painstakingly cultivated for more than a decade by the ISKCON Founder and spiritual preceptor, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977). Fortunately, the system of succession that the GBC established eventually collapsed like a house built upon sand. This book chronicles the ISKCON era of the zonal “acharyas” from their first appearance in 1978, through their meteoric rise to power, their ten-year reign, their fall in 1987, and beyond.

For fifteen years (1978-1993), the author served as a faithful disciple of one of the zonal “acharyas,” and he lived through many of the events described in this book. Recently, he has interviewed major players in this drama, who have contributed important inside information to help everyone interested more fully understand this controversial and little-documented chapter in the history of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.


Table of Contents

Dedication
Preface
Foreword
Chapter 1: Gaudiya Vaishnavism Comes West
Chapter 2: Krishna Gave Me Only Second- and Third-Class Men
Chapter 3: Senior Disciples Question Their Master
Chapter 4: Eleven Ritvik Priests
Chapter 5: A Take-Over Conspiracy
Chapter 6: The Rise of the Zonal Acharyas
Chapter 7: Two Architects of Evil
Chapter 8: Crushing the Opposition
Chapter 9: ISKCON Gurus Begin to Deviate
Chapter 10: Exposed by a Woman
Chapter 11: The Guru Reform Movement
Chapter 12: Preparing for Battle
Chapter 13: The Fall of the Zonal Acharyas
Chapter 14: The Neo-Gaudiya Math
Chapter 15: The Ritvik Question
Chapter 16: The Buck Stops Here
Aftermath
About the Author
References
Endnotes


Excerpts from and reviews of Eleven Naked Emperors

Foreword by Professor Edwin Bryant
Preface by the Author
Addendum
Review by Chand Prasad
ISKCON guru Bhakti Vikasa Swami acknowledges Eleven Naked Emperors
Kailasa Chandra reviews chapters 1 & 2 of Eleven Naked Emperors


Reviews of Eleven Naked Emperors

January 13, 2021

Five Stars: An important book about a significant time in ISKCON

This book gives some important information about the zonal acharya era of ISKCON. Since this is a time period that the ISKCON leaders would like to cover up or sweep under the rug, it is especially important that people who remember it can give their stories. Mr. Doktorski is entitled to do so, since he is a former disciple of one of the zonal acharyas, and also no longer a member of ISKCON, so he doesn’t have to sugar-coat the story to fit the present dogma. The book does not only give information about the time period itself, but it also covers some relevant events before 1977 and after 1987 as well. This book is well researched, and gives the story from an academic perspective as well as from a devotee perspective. It is a good book for those who want information about the ISKCON history from other sources than the official ISKCON ones.

G. R. S.
from a review at Amazon


September 28, 2020

Five Stars: The net of the planet

A magnificent very informative and historical book of contemporary Vaishnavism. Thank you. Hare Krishna!

Emilio Rafael Ituarte Baca
from a review at Amazon


August 18, 2020

Five Stars: Extremely Objective

Pranams. Jaya Srila Prabhupada. Meticulously and voluminously researched and extremely non-partisan, especially considering how partisan virtually every devotee he interacted with to write this book was. Lots of facts and background info are given that allow the reader to come to their own conclusions. The author takes pains to avoid steering the reader to a certain perspective, purposely including even the most blinded views of the eleven subjects. I also lived through this experience and interacted with Henry in the 80’s during our shared mis-leadings at the hands of our one-time “gurus.”

The objectivity extends to some critical examination of Hare Krishna founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s preparation of his leaders, including the eleven, for what would be needed after his physical departure. Hence the one negative review. However, at the end, Henry does give a very Krishna conscious reason as to why Srila Prabhupada handled this issue as he did.

Nevertheless, this book, although respectful of devotees, isn’t pure devotional service. One needs to exercise good discrimination regarding siddhanta when faced with the diversity of devotees’ biases and sectarian loyalties. Logic leads one to conclude that, at most, only one of many differing conclusions could be the Krishna conscious one. May the Lord in the heart guide you as you read and otherwise!

Eric Johanson
Moab, Utah
formerly Radha-Vrindaban Chandra Swami
formerly a disciple of Hansadutta
from a review at Amazon


June 21, 2020

Three stars: This book finally set me free from the shadow of ISKCON

I am very grateful that the author wrote this book because it finally set me free from caring about ISKCON and the organisations ‘gurus.’ However, I did not enjoy the book and found it very repetitive. Perhaps this is why it had the effect on me it did, it showed how 99% of the managers and gurus at the top of the Hare Krishna pyramid are simply little boys playing politics and trying to be the king of the castle. There is nothing special about any of them. They lack any special knowledge and are in no way transcendent god men. They are on a power trip, trying to emulate their guru, who despite his faults, was at least genuine in his mission and had a personal charisma and degree of purity his followers could only dream of.

The contents of the book [in the later chapters] itself mostly deal with Ritvik vs direct successor arguments. These go into excruciating detail as the various players attempt to prove their position is the correct one using scripture, religious history, and of course the statements of Prabhupada himself. Honestly, I don’t know why Prabhupada just didn’t give clear instructions for what to do after he died! Surely he had the insight to see that his followers were all vain young men on a power trip?

The book is very specialist, there isn’t much here for someone who has never been involved with, or studied ISKCON and it isn’t gripping like the author’s last book Killing for Krishna, which had a true crime feel and dealt with the sordid activities of some of these gurus.

The author is now working on a full history of New Vrindavan, which at one point was the one book I wished someone would write. Now, I have no desire to read it and I no longer care at all about ISKCON and the people in it. For this, I am so pleased and I hope that readers like me can find this freedom from this author’s books. It is important someone writes them, but I am done reading them, and am very happy about that!

R. Moores
from a review at Amazon


May 11, 2020

Today I would like to give some comment on the book by my friend Henry Doktorski called Eleven Naked Emperors. If you would like to know about the conspiracies that did happen at the time that Swami Bhaktivedanta left his body in 1977, you have to read this book.

Henri Jolicoeur (formerly Hanuman Swami, ACBSP)
Montreal, Canada

From a video titled Jayatirtha das, aka James Immel (My Testimonial) at YouTube.


April 5, 2020: One Great Book!

Hare Krishna, devotees! I am [recording this video in my car] at Los Angeles International Airport. I’m [an Uber driver] waiting to take a customer to their destination. While I take breaks, or when I wait between people, I read. I read Prabhupada’s books, and I read books in relationship to Prabhupada and the [Hare Krishna] Movement. Eleven Naked Emperors is an excellent book by Hrishikesh Prabhu, or Henry Doktorski. I’ve been reading it. . . .

Excellent book! Very nicely done. This is a professional endeavor. It says here [in the Preface that] it’s a controversial book. But devotees delight in addressing controversial topics. It enlightens their minds and it brings their hearts closer to Krishna. We’re not afraid of controversy.

The Foreword is very, very good, by a professor: Edwin Bryant, Professor of Hindu Philosophy and Religion at Rutgers University. I don’t agree with everything he said. [However], most everything [he said] I [do] agree with. [Only] a few things I don’t agree with. In the same way, I don’t agree with some of the things that Hrishikesh writes, but the important thing is that this is giving an opportunity for dialogue, an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to share ideas on controversial topics. It has a strong foundational basis, so that is very, very good. Very, very good service.

Here we have Chapter One: “Gaudiya Vaishnavism Comes West.” [In this chapter] we have the foundational basis on how all this [the Zonal-Acharya Era of ISKCON and the formation of the two splinter groups: the Neo-Gaudiya Math and the Ritvik-In-Absentia Advocates] started. Very, very nice book. I highly recommend it. Any devotee who doesn’t read a book like this will not have a strong foundational basis in philosophy, in history, and who is who in this movement. I highly recommend it, even though I’m sure all of us will not agree with some parts of it.

Hare Krishna! [Now], let me continue reading [more of Eleven Naked Emperors] myself! All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Haribol!

Mario Pineda (Mahatma dasa)
Los Angeles, California

From a video review on Facebook.


April 2, 2020: We [ISKCON devotees] were told a lot of things [by our ISKCON authorities] (laughter). Some of them were not the same story; we were told a lot of things, and we had no way of really knowing [what was fact and what was fiction]. There was a book [Monkey on a Stick] that came out [in 1988] after Sulochan [Steven Bryant] was murdered in Los Angeles, but it was really a pulp fiction book, so it wasn’t helpful. Henry, [on the other hand], has written books that provide solid information with an overwhelming number of notes and quotations to back up what he’s saying. I believe he is definitely working on the right side.

Wade Ryan (Damodar dasa, ACBSP)
initiated 1967 in San Francisco
from a radio talk show: Expedition Truth radio.


April 2, 2020: I lived through what is in these [Henry’s] books, and they are truthful.

Joseph Pollock, Jr. (Jyotirdhama dasa, ACBSP)
Richland, Washington
from a radio talk show: Expedition Truth radio.


April 2, 2020: I know Henry well, I really admire what he’s doing, and I agree he has really helped a lot of people straighten out the history. There’s an acharya, he’s a guru in our line, his name is Madhva, and he says, “Anyone who understands history correctly is eligible for liberation.” We needed to sort out the history.

Tim Lee (Purajana dasa, ACBSP)
from a radio talk show: Expedition Truth radio.


April 2, 2020: I’m very appreciative of the therapeutic element that he [Henry] wants to connect with others and help them understand the history [of ISKCON]

Mark Goodwin (Kailasa-Chandra dasa, ACBSP)
Jasper, Arkansas
from a radio talk show: Expedition Truth radio.


April 2, 2020: Listen to an interview with Henry about his books Eleven Naked Emperors and Killing For Krishna with Rev. Jack Davila-Ashcraft from a two-hour broadcast on Expedition Truth radio.


March 30, 2020: 5.0 out of 5 stars. Devastation Row

The author, a former ISKCON devotee during at least part of the time involved, proves to be an excellent historian. Don’t expect a story written in “pulp fiction” style, filled with suppositions, concocted conversations and dramatizations—as was told in Monkey on a Stick.

While this book is filled with an overwhelming amount of facts—nearly all of which are documented in the plethora of easily accessed Notes—it is written in a personable style, so that it isn’t a “dry” read. The research is a success of documentation, most of which are had by-way of interviews conducted by the author over a number of years.

For all the devotees and friends affected—this isn’t just a little thing. It became a terrible experience over ten horrible years, that devastated the spiritual and mundane lives of thousands of people totally dedicated to changing the world. Reading this book has cleared up my own questions and lingering confusion over the false guru scam, as a former follower of ISKCON.

Wade Ryan (Damodar dasa, ACBSP)
Inititated in San Francisco, 1967

From a review at Amazon.


March 24, 2020:

Today I would like to give a brief review of the book Eleven Naked Emperors by my friend Henry Doktorski. First, I want to say that I really like Henry. Henry has made a very positive life for himself [after leaving the Hare Krishna movement]. He’s a great writer, he’s an organist, he is a chessmaster, a master accordionist. He’s a real nice guy. He has made a lot of research to do this book. . . .

Eleven Naked Emperors deals with the period from 1977 and on, the period after Swami Bhaktivedanta, [the founder of the Hare Krishna movement], died. Those eleven decided that they were now “spiritual masters,” they were now “gurus,” and they were now worthy of praise, worthy of worship, worthy of taking hundreds, some thousands of disciples, to love them and serve them. Many built themselves little thrones so that people could worship them.

One thing that they did, all the eleven of them, is what is called “Washing of the Feet” [pada-puja] once a year [on the birthday of the spiritual master], with milk, yogurt, honey. Then they would let their disciples drink this mixture because it was “holy,” it had touched their feet. And every day, they [the eleven] would let people eat from their plate [after they had finished eating]. That would be called “Maha-Prasadam.” It was “holy” because the spit of these eleven people had suddenly, in 1977, become “holy.” Anyone who would eat something that had touched their spit would benefit spiritually.

Henry’s Eleven Naked Emperors is a very interesting book, [especially] if you want to learn the history of the Hare Krishna movement and how it is functioning now. It’s not about self realization, it’s about being elected by a board: “Okay, now you’re a guru.” It’s very far away from the ideal of the Bhagavad-gita, which says that the self-realized soul can show you the truth because he has seen, he has experienced the truth. . . .

There’s a lot to learn in the book by Henry Doktorski, a lot to learn about the sinister brainwashing that can happen when a guru is not real. You can learn about money scams, manipulation of women for sexual pleasure, manipulation of men [and boys] by some of those gurus who were homosexual pedophiles. Like Kirtanananda and Bhavananda, who were complete perverts. But for a little while many people believed that they were enlightened saints, when in reality they were scabs.

Henri Jolicoeur, M. A. (formerly Hanuman Swami, ACBSP)
Hypnotherapist
Montreal, Quebec

From a review on YouTube.


March 21, 2020: 5.0 out of 5 stars. An Unmatched Insider View

Doktorski has provided perhaps the best insider view of the internal power struggles of ISKCON from the late 70s up to the present. His honest “warts and all” approach to ISKCON history, coupled with the clear respect he has for its members both past and present, as well as its founder, clearly indicate a desire to tell the truth with a heart for healing. As an Anglican priest I highly recommend this and all of Doktorski’s works to my fellow theologians, apologists, clergy, and students of world religion.

Father Joseph “Jack” Gingrich
Dayton, Ohio
From a review at Amazon.


March 10, 2020: 5.0 out of 5 stars. A Healing Tool and Valuable Reference Guide

My first wish in reviewing this book is to recognize the tremendous work that the author dedicated to this project—both from an academic as well as a personal perspective. It is evident from the first chapter that there were no shortcuts taken to achieve the massive undertaking that is tackling this sensitive, yet important subject. While it may difficult for anyone outside of ISKCON to understand most of the subject matter and references to its history, I sense this work may contribute immediate and tremendous value to all interested in the subject matter—a reference for the zonal-acharya era of ISKCON and (in a broader sense) the issues surrounding succession upon the physical departure of a religious leader.

I very much appreciate how the author took the time to preface the work with how subjective the content may turn out to be. Even with this disclaimer there was plenty of opportunity for a lot of the sides of the issue to be included (even when some refused, such as Hans Kary—your loss dude!) Ultimately, providing different perspectives served the book well as it portrays the facts and a crucial part of what happened before and after Prabhupada’s passing in 1977.

We may not agree with everything the author presents (it’s healthy to disagree respectfully), but the value here is historical as this book opens so many doors and ideas that have been difficult to discuss in the past. For example, I feel the author is extremely generous in his view of the eleven “naked emperors” and shows a compassion I cannot find within me to portray them as fallible human beings. While I do appreciate the obvious consequences on placing the tremendous pressure and responsibilities that were upon the “emperors,” there was too much writing on the wall. Especially with Keith Ham—his manipulative nature, power hunger, and sexual deviance was known from the days at 26 Second Avenue.

Why he was given sannyasi within a year of knowing Prabhupada in Manhattan is a mystery as baffling as why or how the pyramids were built. It’s like sending a surgeon to the operating table after less than one year of undergraduate studies...there is simply not enough preparation. In any case, this book is a healthy approach to discuss and present what I used to think was the unthinkable—touching on issues that represent a dark period in ISKCON history—and then going (to my favorite chapter—the last one) and addressing the human aspect of being a religious leader.

I cannot praise the author enough for assembling such a complete work that serves as a document that presents the dangers of absolutism. Much like the previous book, Killing for Krishna, there is an important and underlying premise where there is a noble intention to help heal. We have learned from Buddhism (now supported by neuroscience) that the only way to properly heal from pain and trauma is to go through the eye of the storm; to bring a caring attention towards that which hurts the most. I realize that one has to be emotionally ready for this process and clearly not all are.

However, we may ignore this truth at our own risk if there is any hope for true healing. This book is a necessary step in the direction towards a collective healing that is still very much needed and perhaps long overdue. This is perhaps the most relevant contribution.

Pedro Ramos
Atlanta, Georgia
From a review at Amazon.


February 10, 2020: A Remarkable Book

One reviewer below described Eleven Naked Emperors as “a detailed, accurate and unapologetic history of the zonal acharya era of ISKCON” and he was not bluffing. I had always hoped that there would be a book written about this period in ISKCON history, and I was delighted to discover that the gentleman who wrote the gripping and well researched Killing For Krishna would be stepping up to the plate.

Despite the provocative title, the author, Henry Doktorski, avoids the sensational route. You don’t get long character studies of the various zonal acharyas and you don’t get a litany of their salacious and scandalous past times (though you get some). Monkey On A Stick, this is not. What you do get are facts and witness accounts that construct a historical narrative of the period. It’s evident that Doktorski is sincere, as he thoughtfully explores many of the complicated facets of post 1977 ISKCON—the relationship between the institution and the Gaudiya Math, and the development of splinter groups that arose after Srila Prabhupada’s passing. There’s a lot to unpack and Doktorski does a great job of breaking everything down and presenting it in a way that’s both readable and easy to follow.

It would have been interesting to have gotten a deeper dive into the “poisoning conspiracy,” though it was mentioned briefly in a few chapters. I presume Doktorski intentionally avoided subjects that were deemed “too speculative” as there was interest from an Academic Press to publish this book. Perhaps he thought the evidence was not strong enough to warrant a more detailed look. I don’t know. He certainly left no stone unturned in his previous book Killing For Krishna. I would have also liked to have seen the scope of damage the zonal system caused to the greater ISKCON society and to the rank and file explored a bit deeper. (If you’re looking to delve into the human interest side, I recommend you read Nori Muster’s fantastic Betrayal Of The Spirit). Of course, it would have been fascinating to hear from more of the zonal acharyas themselves, but I knew securing interviews would be unlikely. Nevertheless, Doktorski should be lauded for his mostly successful attempts at getting perspectives from all sides.

I figured I’d write something because I expect to see some negative reviews, mostly due to the fact that the author dares to question aloud Srila Prabhupada’s responsibility in these matters—His reluctance to discipline his more ambitious and disruptive leaders, and his seeming inability to clearly articulate his instructions for initiation before his passing. To even entertain the notion that Prabhupada was fallible is still a big no-no for a lot of devotees.

A compelling read, I must say, but I don’t see this book garnering much interest outside the world of Hare Krishnas and the scholars who study them. It’s unfortunate because Eleven Naked Emperors is brilliant and Henry Doktorski and the others involved in the making of this book deserve recognition for this stunning accomplishment. Well done!

TriangleArmbar, review atAmazon.


February 10, 2020: Yet another important book that reveals the history of the ISKCON Gestapo movement.

Notice to ISKCON members aka retards: You should never read this book. This book is very “offensive.” And you should stop reading this article right away if you want to keep your stupidity lata-bija.

I was very happy to buy Henry Doktorski’s new book Eleven Naked Emperors. I was thinking that if this book as half as good as Killing for Krishna, it would be worth the money.

To be honest, I am at chapter 7, so that means I read 25% of the book, but I already feel the true value of this book.

Rare members of the Hare Krishna movement are able to rise above the ISKCON’s mental jail. The majority of people who join ISKCON are retarded and they never question the society they live in. Some rare people start “seeing things” only after being in the movement of many years. For example, in ISKCON, you can not discuss proper behavior and deviant behavior, you can not discuss what is truth, and what is a fallacy. As soon as you start asking questions and express a desire to discuss things, you will be immediately marked as “offender.” And all discussion stops here. However, Srila Prabhupada never exhibited such behavior, so if you are wondering how this heinous mentality developed within ISKCON, you will find answers in this book. For example, Tanumadhya dasa asked a question about eleven pretender “Maha bhagavatas,” and look at the reply from the management:

I was initiated by Shrila Prabhupada in 1973. I was fortunate to have some association with Shrila Prabhupada and some personal service. [After] Shrila Prabhupada departed . . . I was the only one [at Bhaktivedanta Manor] who questioned the declaration of these demons when (immediately after the 1978 Mayapur GBC meetings) Vipramukhya dasa (the Bhakta Leader) announced to the assembled disciples of Shrila Prabhupada [that the eleven had become acharyas]. He said that Shrila Prabhupada had recognized these eleven as his eternal associates, and had appointed them as the new acharyas of ISKCON. He said that we all had to give our full support to them so that the new devotees would have faith in them. I knew this was bogus as I had been privy to what had transpired in Shrila Prabhupada’s room during the selection of these as representatives of the acharya and given authority to initiate on Shrila Prabhupada’s behalf. . . . I was acutely aware of the fact that none of these eleven were qualified, despite the claims of Vipramukhya that they were uttama-adhikaris and pure devotees, and so I asked him, “What if one of them falls down?” He immediately started screaming that I was an offender and had no faith in Shrila Prabhupada. No one else, no matter what doubts they had, said anything, and that was the beginning of the end. (Chapter 6)

This conversation took place in 1978, more than 40 years ago, and even to this very day, ISKCON corporate elite has kept the same mentality. I find this amazing. Cruel, arrogant corporately licensed “gurus” with their blind, retarded followers are always looking for a way to give trouble to intelligent people who are questioning them. Nothing really changed in the last 40 years, except 11 zonal “acaryas” were replaced with a greater number of spineless puppy gurus whose main teaching is that you should not be “offensive.” You should believe in mushroom eating gurus, sannyasis with young, unmarried female secretaries, gurus who play ping pong in shorts, sahajiyas who parade girls throughout cities to make them chaste and shy, all these acts are acts of pure devotional service, and if you don’t believe that, or you desire to discuss these deviations, you are an “offender.” How stupid you have to be to live in such a movement?

Another important feature of this book is that it provides many details on the ISKCON corrupt guru approval process. Right after Srila Prabhupada left, ISKCON started corporate oversight over gurus, who were falling down left and right, and at the same time requiring big worship on the equal level with Srila Prabhupada.

In this way, the real truth remains to be forever forgotten, suppressed by ISKCON’s corporate bureaucrats, aka “rubber-stamped gurus.”

And real truth is that every Srila Prabhupada’s disciple has the natural born right to initiate disciples, and he doesn’t need anybody’s “approval.” The relationship between guru and disciple is a private relationship and involved parties are exclusively responsible for entering into this relationship. Any disciple of Srila Prabhupada who initiates disciples naturally falls under public scrutiny, and if he is doing nonsense, Gestapo methods of silencing his opposition are actually against society’s interest. The only way for a society to purge itself of fake gurus in open journalism, honesty, and public discussion. There will be no success as long as ISKCON is doing exactly the opposite, “rubberstamping” corporate gurus who have good connections with corrupt elites, punishing journalists and anybody who says one word against the “chosen ones.” Retarded followers are disciples who are trained to reject any discussion about deviations and mark it as “offensive” and thus their discrimination remains on the level of four-year-old.

And this book reveals the history of the ISKCON Gestapo guru scam in great detail opening the doors for a brighter future.

Until ISKCON removes all Gestapo mentality from its teachings and Lawbooks, until it stops persecuting individuals who are exposing deviants, until it stops “approving gurus” and suppressing the discriminatory power of its members by turning them into retards, brighter future will not come.

Hanuman dasa (Hrvoje Marjanovic)
Zagreb, Croatia

To see the original review, go to: My Review of Book Eleven Naked Emperors.


February 6, 2020: This book is an excellently researched piece of work, and includes a wide variety of sources (both eye witnesses and documents) hardly accessible to other researchers or the interested public. If one reviewer (Hari) claims that this a biased account ... uhm no, because the sources are all there, with references, and now that they’ve been gathered, it will be difficult to deny them.

Zinnober, from a review at Amazon Germany.


Five Stars: Long-awaited book

February 4, 2020: I must admit I’ve had great interest and anticipation regarding Mr. Henry Doktorski’s new book Eleven Naked Emperors for several years now. A detailed, accurate and unapologetic history of the zonal acharya era of ISKCON is long, long overdue.

I’m not a stranger to the Hare Krishnas. My family became involved with ISKCON in 1976 and continued until 1988. We were one of the first, if not the first, Life-Members in Dallas, Texas. During that period, we contributed tens of thousands of dollars, in one form or another, to the Dallas temple. We were fervent supporters, but when we heard of child abuse, we discontinued any and all participation.

Eleven Naked Emperors describes in detail the events preceding and following the death of the Founder/Acharya of ISKCON and the GBC’s appointment of eleven high-ranking GBC members who Prabhupada had earlier appointed as Ritvik priests. Unfortunately, the eleven pretended to be self-realized, uttama-adhikari successor acharyas, something like the naked emperor in Hans Christian Anderson’s The Emperor’s New Clothes who pretended to wear clothes which were invisible to the stupid. Henry’s writing is well documented and includes dozens and dozens of quotations from the zonal acharyas and those few brave souls who recognized that something was wrong and who tried to stop the zonal acharyas. The battles Henry describes between the zonal acharyas (bad guys) and the reformers (good guys) clearly show how ISKCON had degraded into a political cult, not a spiritual cult based on guru, sadhu and shastra.

I recall at one point towards the end of the book, ISKCON offered a one-liner apology—several decades after the damage done during the zonal-acharya era of ISKCON—to all those hurt by the horribly mismanaged organization. And, that sums up the effort ISKCON has put into apology to the thousands of lives they negatively affected during this horrendous period of ISKCON history.

In conclusion, if you want to better understand what went wrong in ISKCON after the death of the Founder/Acharya, read Henry’s book. That is my humble opinion, from a person who lived through those terrible times.

Most Sincerely,

Mark Middaugh M.L.I.S.
New Mexico, from a review at Amazon.


Letters from Eleven Naked Emperors Readers

February 1, 2020: “I bought the Kindle version and just read the Introduction and Foreword. You have done a good job. It is sober, sane, factual, and you have tried to let views from all angles be heard. Sad to see that for the most part the ‘emperors’ and their associates/supporters for the most part have refused to take part.”

William Benedict (Bhakta dasa, ACBSP)


February 3, 2020: “If the succession is contaminated then there is no purity. Prabhupada says purity is the force that penetrates, so Henry’s flashing lights will help thousands to reconnect by the arrangement and mercy of God. Let all thank Henry for this great masterpiece.”

Kanta dasa


February 9, 2020: “The book arrived yesterday Henry prabhu. I am already on the 100th page. I especially appreciate how lovingly you are portraying Srila Prabhupada. Very appreciated. Also I like your neutral tone. Thank you for this nice service to Srila Prabhupada. Rest assured Srila Prabhupada appreciates your sincerity and your dedication.”

Purujit dasa
La Linea, Spain


February 11, 2020: “Hi Henry, The book was delivered several days ago. Please forgive my delayed confirmation email as I’ve been very busy with parish work. I’m digging in just as I did with Killing for Krishna. I can’t put it down. Your copious endnotes combined with writing skills are of great service to posterity and make for easy and informative reading. May our Lord reward your efforts! Thank you for having the courage and fortitude to see this through. I greatly anticipate the final work in your historical trilogy on ISKCON.

God Bless,”

Fr. Joseph Gingrich
Dayton, Ohio


February 14, 2020: “This book is awesome Henry, I’m up to page 312 and I can’t believe the work you put in. This is incredibly important for the history of ISKCON. I’m impressed! It’s turned out way more in depth that I could have imagined.”

Pedro Ramos
Atlanta, Georgia


February 14, 2020: “Thank you Henry for writing the book Eleven Naked Emperors. I began reading it in interest as soon as I picked it up from my post box, and had to pull myself away to drive my car home from the post office.”

Christopher Colm (Sri-Krsna dasa)
former disciple of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Belmont, Vermont


February 17, 2020: “Reading some of the footnotes I am quite amazed and impressed at your erudite scholarly detective work you have done for this book.”

Christopher Colm (Sri-Krsna dasa)
former disciple of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Belmont, Vermont


February 18, 2020: “By the way your book stunk. I couldn't even read to the end because of how toxic it was.”

Mark Gearhart, Comment on a post on the author’s Facebook page

Author’s reply: “Eleven Naked Emperors is just a history book. I’m not surprised at Gearhart’s reaction, however. The entire zonal acharya era of ISKCON was toxic!”


February 19, 2020: “I am nearly through Chapter 9 in your book, Eleven Naked Emperors, about Tamal, Hansadutta, and Jayatirtha, titled ‘ISKCON Gurus Begin to Deviate.’ Around that same time, or perhaps very soon after, Bhavananda was also severely chastised by my ‘spiritual master,’ Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. One of my closest friends was SDG’s servant, while they were in India, and SDG was sent to chastise Bhavananda for his sex life with men. My friend told me that SDG yelled and yelled: ‘We know what you did!’ and was using expletives too.

“Senior devotees at Gita-Nagari (where I lived at the time), told me that the whole thing that happened at Mayapur in the mid-1970s—when the whole town came and attacked the ISKCON Mayapur temple—was because Bhavananda was having sex with one of the local boys. Did you ever hear about the raid by a local Bengali mob attacking Mayapur ISKCON and Bhavananda shooting someone and going to jail? They were after him for molesting local boys.

“I was made the butt of jokes when Bhavananda, Harikesh, Jayatirtha and Satsvarupa dasa Goswami came to Gita-Nagari early after just becoming Zoned Outs in 78. I was 19 and I guess cute because Bhavananda was really interested in me, asking many questions while I had prasad with the other young brahmacharis, then he asked me to go with him on his mission. When I made some comment that I would not go, he left and all the other brahmacaris were laughing at me that he ‘liked’ me.

“Why didn't we just then know that this guy was bogus pretender? Young and stupid I guess.”

Christopher Colm (Sri-Krsna dasa)
former disciple of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Belmont, Vermont


February 19, 2020: Hare Krsna, Dear Henry,

I have just finished reading your new book Eleven Naked Emperors, and I feel obliged to write you a few words describing my impressions of the book.

You have presented all the different perspectives held by the different groups of devotees on the continuation of the preaching mission of Srila Prabhupada with an unbiased, non-hateful and neutral manner, which is very valuable. It gives devotees of all camps an opportunity to educate themselves about the various viewpoints and especially about the circumstances and history in which these viewpoints have developed over the years. Your intention to be a mere historian comes handy when the devotees need sober minds to decide how to push forward the wonderful mission Srila Prabhupada started at the time of confusion and mistrust.

I also see you have quite a genuine appreciation for Srila Prabhupada and regard him to be a genuine saint and spiritual master. The non-devotee audience would also benefit from reading your book as it very nicely distinguishes Srila Prabhupada as the real guru who follows the orders of the previous acharya as opposed to unauthorized gurus. You have very humbly stated in your book that you also take blame for being cheated by the false gurus yourself, which is not a weakness but quite the opposite: a great asset.

Unfortunately, many devotees are not so gentlemanly and therefore they rather point their finger at the faults of others to justify their own fault of insincerity. Thus they get stuck in unending cycle of arguments and counterarguments just to prove themselves to be innocent, which is not the case. We always follow some sort of authority. If not a guru, then at least our imperfect senses and imperfect biases we have developed in our conditional existence and naturally making mistakes is part of the process. We should not lament, but admit our mistake and move on. Everything is simply a purification of motive. Therefore humility and submissiveness are always encouraged by great teachers. If one is sincere, one cannot be cheated, or he will not be cheated for a long time. And even if he’s cheated for a long time, if he at one point matures and realizes his delusion, he benefits from such experience, since due to his humility and surrender he is able to carefully study the cheater and gain perspective rarely available to those who are distant. Thus being cheated becomes an asset. I believe your next book is the result of such undertaking.

In regards to the doubt that was expressed in the last portion of the book, namely whether Srila Prabhupada was not to blame for the fiasco of his disciples after his departure, I think every genuine disciple must encounter doubts of such calibre. We must know the knowledge side by side with the nescience. If one is to shy away from such discussion, it does not speak well of his faith in Srila Prabhupada either. It does not help if we ignore such doubts, surpress them, or demonize those who genuinely discover them. Quite the opposite, all doubts should be discussed and if they are ignored, they devour us.

Ultimately this one single doubt, whether Srila Prabhupada is absolutely perfect or not is the core of the problem, the reason why the Hare Krsna movement became stagnant and why devotees, instead of making the world a better place, have become overly engaged in mundane arguments about political and managerial posts within the spiritual master’s institution (as though they had to help the so-called imperfect master). So it is good to raise these doubts and speak honestly rather than hide behind the fascade of a ‘guru,’ ‘Prabhupada man,’ ‘ritvik’ or any such meaningless designations.

We must always consider, what is actually the mission of the genuine master in this world? To satisfy our mundane ideas of bodily so-called friendship, love and society or to take us from all these, liberate us and engage in pure devotional service that cannot be checked by any material circumstances (corruption in the guru’s institution is one)? Indeed, if we want to transcend this bodily plane of existence, it is necessary to develop genuine disgust for lording it over propensity (false guru mentality). What better lesson could be found for this than in the post 1977 ISKCON zonal acharya period? So in one sense Srila Prabhupada’s teaching continues and shows who is attached to what. Everyone is being tested. God is not cheap. The guru shows the way, we have to walk it.

I would highly recommend the book to devotees who are genuinely interested in knowing the history of ISKCON. You have done a great research, maintained devotional undertone without degrading to tabloid, exploitative, gossip type of writing style as one would expect from such a publication. Well done.

All the best

Your servant Purujit dasa
La Linea, Spain

P. S. The book has lots of valuable historical information. I particularly became interested to read that the originator of the ‘book changes’ controversy was Kirtanananda Swami. I enjoyed little snippets of valuable information like this.


February 21, 2020: I am about 75% done reading your book Eleven Naked Emperors. I have read thousands of books in my life (I am a cerified speed reader). You are very talented, my friend. I have learned a lot more about people I knew personally in ISKCON. I am working on a video on . . . ISKCON and I will plug your book. I have much admiration for your talents and dedication. BRAVO! Many ex-Hare Krishnas have taken negative paths, but you shine with positivity.

Henri Jolicoeur (formerly Hanuman Swami, ACBSP)
Montreal, Quebec


February 27, 2020: I just read the Dedication. Excellent! Hard to imagine it being any more perfect. Your humility is palpable. Thank you very much. You are healing my heart.

David Sherk (Gadai dasa, ACBSP)
Angelica, New York


March 4, 2020: I’m about one-third through your book. Your expertise in documentation is astounding. Prabhuji, even a professional movie script writer couldn’t generate a story this crazy. Amazing, that you can maintain your sanity sifting through all of it.

Here’s my analogy regarding the GBC: Driving in a rural area without GPS or even a road map, taking alternate left and right turns at each successive intersection. Clueless.

Right now I’m reading in your book about the BBC documentary film on Bhagavan. I haven’t gotten past William Bhagavan. He was so arrogant. My godbrother Puskara dasa (Matthew Goldman) told me personally that he and other brahmins were outside the temple door during Bhagavan’s extravagant guru-pujas and they were cursing him to fall down.

David Sherk (Gadai dasa, ACBSP)
Angelica, New York


March 5, 2020: In his latest literary offering, Eleven Naked Emperors, the author, H. Doktorski, has accurately answered a once-frequently-asked question: “Whatever happened to the Hare Krishnas?” Of late, the question has fallen out of use as no one any longer remembers the kirtans that were once commonplace on major city streets.

An individual’s experience with ISKCON, not unlike blind men groping and describing an elephant, may vary widely. In describing those events of ISKCON 1977-1987, HRISHIKESH has invited the wrath of the “Sentimentalist Sahajiyas,” but he willingly takes that risk. HRISHIKESH successfully walks the tightrope between fault-finding and fact-finding without a fall down.

Many legends and lore of ISKCON are examined, and all this is done in CARLOS CASTANEDA style. In describing “a YAQUI way of knowledge,” Castaneda describes his first hand experiences with his spiritual path and his teacher. His analysis is in stark contrast to the enthusiasm noviciate. Similarly, with HRISHIKESH and his in-detail analysis of ISKCON.

Janmastami dasa (John Sinkowski), former disciple of Kirtanananda Swami and New Vrindaban resident


March 17, 2020: Hrishi,

I have now finished reading your book, Eleven Naked Emperors. Another amazing effort to uncover the truth, just like your first book, Killing For Krishna. l feel you remained balanced and tried to give as comprehensive a look as possible, honoring all perspectives.

It is an opportunity for your readers to carefully analyze past mistakes and then learn from. For those who were not thrust into such a demanding role as guru, it is an opportunity for them to appreciate the good work these eleven gentlemen did despite the pressure of having to always appear perfect. The last chapter is thought provoking. There is surely much more l could say as l am very impressed by your colossal effort to document so much information and compile it in such a readable manner.

If you approve of my comment you may certainly use it as you see fit, such as on your Eleven Naked Emperors Facebook page. And yes, as l fade quietly into the twilight of my career l would prefer to remain anonymous.

By the way, you may have noticed that l left the word “them” off the first sentence of the 2nd paragraph. I am surely looking forward to your next publication.

Anonymous godbrother, former disciple of Kirtanananda Swami and New Vrindaban resident


March 31, 2020: Hi Henry,

I want to thank you for your time, talent and hard work in authoring this book, Eleven Naked Emperors. You have cleared up so many of my own personal questions and confusions over the ten+ terrible years that has ruined so many lives of sincere devotees. And—though you’ve examined excellently documented so many details, you've been able to tell the story with a “calm voice” that has helped me come to terms with it all in a less soul-rocking manner.

I also purchased Killing for Krishna, which led me to the Eleven Naked Emperors book. You may even have the rather vicious letter I sent to Keith Ham when I sent his book to him, after reading Monkey On A Stick. I happened to visit New Dwarka the day after Sulochan Prabhu was murdered, and the place was suffused with horror and fear. It was heartbreaking. As for that book, Monkey On A Stick, the authors really set themselves up especially for the “conjecture” rebuttals that followed. But having even just a short, little with Keith Ham early on in San Francisco in 1967, I had no doubt about his pathological egoism.

When the poisoning issue first came out—hearing the “Whispers Recording”—I wasn’t just angry, I wept for three days straight. So I suspect your book will also have a healing effect.

The story about my 1967 initation in San Francisco was incorrectly portrayed in Satsvarupa dasa Goswami’s Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita. Either the devotees in the Haight-Ashbury Temple neglected to document Srila Prabhupada’s spontaneous Nama initiation (I boldly insisted on it one night), or my name was either not included or removed from the Devotee listing website. It doesn’t matter—I remember when it happened, and someone else must have because a somewhat inaccurate version was included in the Lilamrta. I was the “hippy” kid who, in my youth was probably a little too bold in demanding Swamiji initiate me. Thankfully, Swamiji had a very good sense of humor!

I’ve posted a 5-Star review on Amazon in appreciation for your good efforts. . . . Again, Henry, I am so grateful for this book, that has well-informed me, and “settled the unsettled” in my own heart and mind.

Wade Ryan (Damodar dasa, ACBSP), initiated in San Francisco in 1967


April 4, 2020
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

Dear Hrishikesh Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I received your latest book, Eleven Naked Emperors, a while ago, and I am very slowing digesting it. Almost done now. Riveting. The manner in which you examine issues and controversies is engaging and refreshing, unlike the typical throwing of selected quotes and the absolute interpretations thereof. I am inspired to research further and write myself. Even myself, as one of the Radical Reformers, did not know so much that was covered in the book. So I assume these historical books will be of great help to many devotees.

As an aside, I am quite sure Chittesvara dasa, the ghost buster (he toured ISKCON widely doing ghost-busting rituals at temples and homes) was a Jayapataka disciple, who prescribed the purple vibhuti to Harikesh, with rumors that Jayapataka knew Harikesh would go nuts from it, and then he could move in on his zone and men, and, sure enough, Jayapataka was the first GBC/guru to tour and “save” the Eastern Europe zone as soon as Harikesh fell down. Within days he was there, giving shelter and eventual reinitiation to many of Harikesh’s followers.

Nityananda dasa (Nico Kuyt)
Former New Orleans ISKCON Temple President, former member of the ISKCON Guru Reform Movement, and author of Kill Guru, Become Guru: The Poison Is Personal Ambition


April 20, 2020
Dear Henry Prabhuji.

I purchased Eleven Naked Emperors through Amazon. I plan on getting a print copy of Killing for Krishna before the May 2020 Sulochan Memorial in Los Angeles as well, but I especially love that both your ebooks are free for Amazon Prime members. I have recommended, and got many people to read Killing For Krishna on their Kindle app because it’s free if you have Amazon Prime. A LOT of people who wouldn’t have purchased a copy, quite a few younger devotees who don’t have much money, read Killing For Krishna through their Kindle readers.

I recommended Eleven Naked Emperors and Killing For Krishna to all my friends on the Facebook group I manage, which has about 30 people on there, and I read at the end of Eleven Naked Emperors in the “Aftermath” chapter where you talk about where each of the eleven zonal acharyas are now, so they could get more info on that. Your book had stuff in it that even I didn’t know! Amazing work! I’ll do a short recommendation video soon.

I can’t wait to meet you and Yashodanandan Prabhu at the Sulochan Memorial. Hare Krsna. Please accept my humble obeisances as well Prabhuji. Thank you for giving such great work! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Balanarasimhadeva dasa
San Francisco, California


April 23, 2020
Henry Doktorski III, Hare Krishna!

Thanks for your hard work to make THE TRUTH visible for all those who haven’t chanced to see her (THE TRUTH) without taking ANY side: ISKCON—GBC vs. ISKCON—IRM. Thanks for your objective pointing THE TRUTH in both of your books, Killing For Krishna and Eleven Naked Emperors. Looking forward on your third book, Gold, Guns and God, because you are bee and you are blessed by HDG Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna to open eyes of many aspirating devotees who are confused by rumor (prajalpa) and contaminated with hearing/reading offences (Vaisnava aparadha) even to the devotees who don’t deserve to be offended.

Dinanatha dasa (Dragan Buskoski)
Kičevo, Republic of Macedonia


August 26, 2020

Greetings and Namaste. First of all a VERY BIG thank you for your second masterpiece, Eleven Naked Emperors, which recently arrived at my doorstep. It was great that I’ve received your book upon returning from a magnificent trekking holidays in Nepal. I was and still am very much inspired by being Blessed to witness Mother Nature’s splendid and glorious manifestation in form of mighty Himalayas. Coming back to your book, it’s obvious that you've written your name in a history of the Hare Krishna movement as a marvelous historian and Truth investigator. It goes without saying that your natural honesty and transparency in seeing things/facts as they are is your weapon and absolutely captivating quality in your writing, my dear friend. As an ex-Hare Krishna devotee myself, please allow me to use a vocabulary associated with our past: “I bow upon your lotus feet and take a dust from your lotus feet on my head.” Kindly continue writing and sharing with others the Truth as only Truth will set as all Free. Om shanti. Om tat sat.

Rafael Kotowski
Hamburg, Germany


December 12, 2020:

I recently finished Eleven Naked Emperors, and found it to be such an interesting read, mainly because I’m familiar with a few of the characters there in. I spent a couple years at New Vrindaban. I had heard Ramesvara speak at the farm outside Denver and spent six months at Mt. Kailash in California, Hansadutta’s zone, before settling at New Vrindaban. Kirtanananda Swami gave me the name Janardana dasa in 1981. Like Henry, I never experienced the negativity at N.V. I enjoyed the austerities I experienced there. As crazy as Hamsadutta is portrayed, I liked the guy. He acted more like a friend and was an easy guy to talk with, unlike Kirtanananda, whom I was kind of in awe of (thanks to the Brijabasis). Henry puts these guys in the perspective of who they really were. Personally, I’m glad I spent some time at NV but also glad I left before the **** really hit the fan. I’m finding Henry-ji’s books rather interesting and as he says, these books aren’t for everyone, but for a healing process for those who have invested so much of their life in being hoodwinked by a bunch of—whatever ya wanna call these guys. Everyone involved in ISCKON today should read these books that Henry is putting out. After all, it’s your spiritual life.

Jeff Claussen (Janardana dasa)
Sioux City, Iowa


February 4, 2021:

Dear Henry, I finally ordered and read your book, Eleven Naked Emperors, and have just finished it today. In much the same spirit as when I wrote you upon having read Killing for Krishna, I am again grateful to you for caring enough to have put so much time and effort as you clearly have into this account. I can’t adequately praise you.

There are two things I wanted to mention, for what ever they might be worth.

When I read Killing for Krishna, one of the book’s qualities I found most remarkable was the degree to which you were able to present polemical views without yourself appearing to weigh in too much on one side or the other. I thought this was one of the book’s most compelling strengths. While this quality is present as well in Eleven Naked Emperors, it felt a little less so to me. And while I can easily understand why this might be the case, I feel it reduces this quality I was so struck with in Killing for Krishna.

Where I noticed it most was in your discussion of Kirtanananda and Bhavananda. I felt you referred to them as “homosexual gurus” more than necessary. (In my humble opinion.) I do realise that was in fact true! But this was already being made abundantly clear by everyone you were quoting. In some instances, given the context, all that was necessary was to mention they were having illicit sex while presenting themselves as renounced spiritual masters. That would have been enough. Pushing on the “homosexual guru” tag as narrator only made me question the bias of your presentation. Given the book’s entirety, please understand I consider this a small and somewhat nit-picky point. I’ll hope you’ll forgive me. I only mention it because I hope your book is widely read and taken seriously.

The other thing I thought to mention has to do with the Ritvik question within Iskcon. (I found your presentation of the differing views here really excellent.) I happened to be in the San Fransciso Bay area in the summer of 2019 and attended a program at Iskcon Silicon Valley where Radhanath Swami held an initiation ceremony. I was struck by the fact that he very clearly told each initiate he was initiating them on behalf of Srila Prabhupada. I wasn’t expecting this. At the end of Eleven Naked Emperors, Nityananda dasa’s letter mentions that many Iskcon gurus are telling their disciples this, but I think it merits more pronounced mention in the book, somewhere in the chapter on Ritvik-vada. I find it significant.

I hope you’ll forgive my forwardness in volunteering these minor points. Mainly, I just wanted to thank you. I see that you have begun publishing your series on New Vrindaban and look forward to reading these in time.

With best regards,

Thomas Desouches
Hong Kong


March 11, 2022:

I have only read about 80 pages or so thus far but: Wow! Extraordinary research, Prabhu! I already knew the basic deplorable history, but the nitty-gritty details as depicted in your book are truly destestable. You should do a book on the GBC, but that would be challenging considering the veil of secrecy they work behind.

SD dasa (ACBSP)
Mayapur, India


March 18, 2022:

Hey! Just read Eleven Naked Emperors. Great book! Thank you for writing it. Mind blowing stuff.

I’m a product of the post-zonal-acharya days, having gotten into Krishna consciousness in the mid-late 80s and moving into the temples in the early 90s. I saw firsthand the damage that had been done before I got there and that perpetuated after I arrived. My own diksha guru also “fell down” and, even though I took reinitiation (which I thought was the necessary move back then), I ended up leaving the movement for 10 years, only “coming back,” so to speak, last year. I now run an unaffiliated bhakti center with emphasis solely on kirtan and prasadam, no guru talk.

After all this time, I’m still blown away by all the bullshit I see with the movement and its “leaders.” I am way too liberal to practice bhakti “by the book,” and am well aware of how Gaudiya Vaishnavism degraded into what we see today.

Anyway, just wanted to reach out and let you know you’ve got a supporter in me.

Govardhana dasa (Justin King)
Portland, Oregon


May 14, 2022:

I just finished reading ELEVEN NAKED EMPERORS. Your efforts in writing and researching are extraordinary. Your work is a tour de force. Implicit in it is your coming to terms with troubling aspects of ISKCON and your praiseworthy spiritual growth. Forgive me if my comment is too direct or presumptuous. I admire your accomplishments.

Though I must confess when I watched your videos playing the accordion, I got PTSD from my memory as a child taking forced accordion lessons from Mr. Osmond. I had zero musical talent and the lessons were as painful to Mr. Osmond as they were to me.

Miles Wayne Raucher
Miami, Florida


April 11, 2023

Dear Mr Doktorski,

I have just finished reading two of your books: Eleven Naked Emperors and Killing for Krishna and very much appreciate them both. I joined ISKCON in 1981 in the United Kingdom and have lived through much of what you wrote about while being in the dark about the behind scenes activity. I have strong faith in Krishna and Prabhupada because I experience the benefit of sadhana. But for many years I have no faith in the GBC, sannyasis and gurus.

Still, I have never read your books before because of the sensational titles and covers. I thought they would be written like a racy novel full of half truths. But they are not. Your writing is well researched and balanced.

I think many ISKCON devotees would benefit from reading them, but it is highly unlikely with the current titles and covers. I am writing to make a humble request. Please publish your books under two different titles and covers. I am sure the current titles help your sales among the non devotees, but they are not good for the devotee market. Much more boring names would make them more marketable to ISKCON rank and file who need to read them.

Boring covers and names like: The history of New Vrindaban from 1977 to 1990 and The Evolution of GBC Policy Regarding the Propagation of the Parampara from 1977 to 2020. Such titles with plain covers would make them much easier to promote among devotees.

Yours

Anonymous ISKCON devotee
London, United Kingdom


April 12, 2023

It was a necessary work, and it is ISKCON’s good fortune that Henry put in years and years of diligent research to put this together. Worthy of a Truman Capote. A great American tradition. Jai Radhe. As to whether it is “necessary” for ISKCON devotees to read it: As a prophylactic for anyone ascending to higher positions, I would say, it should be required reading. It is a kind of Mahabharata for ISKCON.

Jagadananda Das
Montreal, Quebec


April 12, 2023

I also was astonished by the seriousness and balance of the information inside your books; not a cheap attractive novel but a source of historic information. I at the half of the the Second Volume of your last opus, Gold, Guns and God, and it is quite valuable. You do not hide any fact. You were one of the “inmates” or supporters of Kirtanananda. Keep the titles as they are. If they attract more outsiders than people having been through it all, let it be that way, as they are more outsiders anyway. People who were in it will understand what the title means. Plus it is explained: Danger of Deranged Devotion.

Jean-Jacques Péroo
Cergy, France


August 7, 2023: Your consistent Facebook posts, Prabhu, are very succinct and they bring to life the history that you have carefully compiled and published in your books. Thank you for serving us Kali Yuga people who can’t find time to read big books and when we do, usually can’t remember and quite specific points.

This type of real propaganda, repeated and with links to the research materials, goes a long, long way towards defeating the bogus propaganda that is keeping up, till now, this charade of the Naked Emperors. I hope it can be brought down before too many more of Srila Prabhupada’s direct disciples leave this world.

Hare Krishna. Thank you, prabhu, for your love for history & truth and for your readiness to honestly share your own experience of having been under the grip of devotional delusion and how you brought yourself out of it eventually. May more such deluded souls wake up soon.

Dina-Anukampana Das


January 14, 2024: Today I finished reading Eleven Naked Emperors except for the Afterward and Addendum. This book is essential reading for anybody who is seriously interested in learning about ISKCON’s history. It’s very thoroughly researched, and is well-written and accessible to devotees and secular readers alike. I cannot recommend this book enough. Thank you very much, Henry, for the invaluable service you have done for the devotee community in the writing of this and your other books. Killing For Krishna I read in pieces, not cover to cover, but Eleven Naked Emperors I did read cover to cover, and now I am going to read Killing For Krishna again the same way. Emperors is probably the best work of non-fiction I have EVER read. It’s definitely one of the best. Epic, it is.

Brian Birmingham
Dallas, Texas


Ferburary 15, 2024: Thank you for Eleven Naked Emperors. It is very educational and factual. Very well researched and compiled.

Visvakarma dasa ACBSP (Bobby Hebert)
Hamilton, Ontario

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