Awarded Sannyasa at age 22, Vishnujana Swami was one of the first disciples of Prabhupada, he tirelessly preached and performed Harinama up to 8 hrs per day. Famous all-over for his ecstatic and pure kirtans. He disappeared from our vision in 1976.
Madhudvisa: Visnujana would go out every day on the street and chant, and he would always keep it going. He’d wear these cotton work gloves and he would tape these little cardboard pellets to his finger tips with black electrician’s tape on both hands. That’s the way he’d be able to play the mådaìga for six to eight hours a day without his fingers splitting and bleeding. He would also play the tamboura. He was the only one that could actually keep it in tune and sing with it.
[from Radha Damodar Vilasa by Vaiyasaki Dasa Adhikari]
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Jai Shri Krishna..
Even the story of Vishnujana Maharaj is purifying..
Everyone enthusiastically crowds into the van for the drive to downtown LA in front of Bullock’s Department Store at Seventh and Broadway. The area is dirty and congested and not a very nice place to go, but it’s where almost every other religious group in Los Angeles converges to compete for customers.
As the devotees stand along the street near the corner bus stop, Vishnujana begins plucking his tamboura in an ancient drone, chanting the guru-pranama mantras before leading into the kirtan. The devotees chant in response, and some begin collecting change with their conch shells. Soon the ecstatic chanting and dancing attracts the otherwise preoccupied shoppers in downtown Los Angeles. Thousands of persons get the benefit of hearing Lord Krishna’s Holy Name. As Vishnujana sways back and forth, singing so melodiously with the tamboura, the devotees are reminded of the painting back at the temple of Narada Muni playing his transcendental vina. Vishnujana is so attractive that people stop to watch, and devotees approach them with BTGs and invitations to the Sunday Love Feast.
As the kirtan gets going, Vishnujana switches to mrdanga. Though he always wears gloves to protect his hands, after three or four hours of continuous playing they begin to bleed. But he just continues chanting all afternoon, beating away incessantly on the drum as if in a trance. Even when it rains, he carries on chanting and the devotees chant along with him.
From time to time he stops to preach to the crowd. Occasionally, he calls the devotees together to tell them Krishna stories or to talk about Prabhupada. He brings his festive mood to a very obnoxious place, downtown LA, but due to the presence of the Holy Name the atmosphere is immediately spiritualized.
Most devotees spend at least some time distributing magazines, but Vishnujana just chants all day. Whenever he does take a break to distribute magazines the mood of the kirtan changes, so he is always asked to chant. The distribution goes a lot easier when he’s chanting. Revatinandana leads the party in BTG sales with 12-15 each day. That’s considered big for one devotee.
Labangalatika dd: We went on sankirtan for at least six hours a day with just a few devotees, maybe ten. This was my first introduction to Krishna consciousness. Vishnujana was wonderful. We would go out there and it would be so difficult because of being on the bodily platform, but by the time we came back we’d be in Krishnaloka, completely. The kirtans were so purifying. It was the most wonderful Krishna conscious experience to chant the Holy Name in the association of Vishnujana. He was the center of everything.
Dhristadyumna: There was a story around the LA temple. Tamal Krishna was such an organizer that he organized very nicely the first big kirtan parties in LA with Vishnujana leading. But Tamal wanted everybody to go out with the conch shell and collect money. Vishnujana would never collect. He only wanted to lead kirtan. When Prabhupada came, Tamal went to see him and complained, “Vishnujana won’t collect, Srila Prabhupada, he only wants to chant.” Prabhupada leaned back and smiled, “Yes, he has achieved liberation simply by chanting.” That was the end of Tamal’s plan to get Vishnujana to collect money. And it was kind of like that, Vishnujana didn’t think about money.
Madhudvisa: Vishnujana would make up his own melodies. Prabhupada actually gave him that one song Vrndavana ramya sthana, and asked him to compose a melody. He composed this beautiful melody. Vishnujana was so intoxicated with kirtan. He would go out all day long having kirtan, come back to the temple, and start chanting bhajans for the Deities before evening arati. Then he’d lead the evening arati. He just kept on going and going. He was genuinely intoxicated with the Holy Name.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada and His beloved disciples!!!
HH Vishnujana Mahraj ki jai.
A true Guru like Srila Prabhupada knows what is best for His disciples. We should not speculate on our own about the activities of such pious souls. Nor we should think that some devotees were after money and some were only after Hari Naam. Everybody did whatever best service they could offer unto the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada like HH Tamal Krishna Maharaj was a great organizer and His efforts to collect donations for ISKCON has made what we see today ... all beautiful magnificant temples, nice preaching and great services to Sri Sri Radha-Krishna. Now everyone knows what is ISKCON earlier a handful of people understood the concepts of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Today all world is chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare because of the selfless service of the devotees who joined Srila Prabhupada's mission in the 1960's .So all glories to all great devotees...
Hari bol.