Visnujana Swami

Visnujana Swami (also known as Vishnujana Swami) was a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (Srila Prabhupada), and a sannyasi within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON - The Hare Krishna Movement). Despite his mysterious disappearance in 1976, he continues to be regarded as a saintly figure within ISKCON. His legend lives on through recordings of his celebrated singing of the Hare Krishna mantra and through his unmatched success as a preacher in the early days of the movement. Visnujana Swami was born on June 2, 1948, in San Jose, California. At the age of seventeen, he moved to San Francisco along with his girlfriend, whom he then married. It was in 1966-1967 that Visnujana first came into contact with the Hare Krishna devotees, and by 1968 he had received initiation from Srila Prabhupada and became a full-time member of the movement. On July 20, 1970, Prabhupada awarded Visnujana the order of sannyasa. Visnujana was especially well known within ISKCON for his singing voice, and skill at playing instruments, such as the harmonium and mridanga. Musical recordings of Vishunjana would later be released in 1995 and are popularly sold within ISKCON. By 1973, Visnujana headed up a team of devotees traveling on a bus across the USA which became famous within ISKCON as one of its most successful preaching parties. The team was named after the Deities which traveled with them in the bus, called Radha-Damodara. This bus, filled with ISKCON devotees, would travel from city to city, performing sankirtan, and distributing Prabhupada's books. Visujana Swami continued traveling with the Sankirtan Party in this way until 1976. In 1976, during the Gaura Purnima festival in India, Visnujana disappeared. It is commonly believed that he chose to leave his body at the confluence of several sacred rivers at the Ganges. During a walk some days earlier it is believed he had heard a general statement by Prabhupada concerning the duty of a sannyasi which could have led to him taking his own life, but as Visnujana is not recorded to have disclosed his thoughts to anyone before disappearing it is not known for certain if this was the case. In 1999, a biography of Visnujana Swami entitled Radha-Damodara Vilasa was published by Vaiyasaki Das Adhikari.