When Srila Prabhupada was setting up the foundational leadership structure of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was aware of his own Earthly mortality, but he may have been overly naive in his appointment of eleven Western gurus to take over the leadership of ISKCON following his death in 1977. In the years that followed, a splintering occurred in the organization, with different regional factions following different devotional, spiritual, and evangelical paths.
On such guru was a German-born aspiring songwriter named Hans Kary. Also Known as Hansadutta Swami, Kary precariously straddled between lyrical devotion to Prabhupada’s teaching and egomaniacal dreams of fame and success akin to many of Prabhupada’s celebrity acquaintances (such as George Harrison and Allen Ginsberg). Releasing three albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kary sought stardom beyond the common anti-materialism taught by Prabhupada, reportedly lived a life of debaucherous hedonism despite a public chaste persona, and continued a childhood infatuation with guns. The latter would lead to Kary’s forced departure from ISKCON’s leadership.
This presentation explores Kary/Hansadutta’s three albums, focusing on his final album, The Vision, recorded and released between his 1980 weapons related arrest and his 1983 removal from ISKCON.
About the presenterColin Helb
Colin Helb is Associate Professor of Communications at Elizabethtown College. His interests include critical media studies, communications technologies, new media, and media production. He is the co-editor of Hardcore, Punk, and Other Junk: Aggressive Sounds in Contemporary Music (Lexington, 2014).