Vishnujana Swami: Chanting Hare Krishna on the Street 8-10 Hours DAILY!
In the early days sankirtan [chanting Hare Krishna and distributing books in public] is everybody’s prime function. All the devotees are inspired by Vishnujana’s love and dedication to sankirtan. After lunch prasadam he takes out the sankirtan party.
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.
Around five o’clock the party heads back to the temple, where everybody showers and gets ready for sundara-drati. Vishnujana sings one or both of the kirtans for the evening program. Devotees prefer him leading. Revatinandana gets to lead occasionally. Sudama also leads from time to time. Even Tamal leads sometimes. Madhudvisa leads kirtan whenever he can get a chance to do it, but mostly Vishnujana leads because everybody wants him to.
As soon as arati is finished, prasadam is served. Then everybody goes out to Hollywood Boulevard. The new sankirtan spot is in front of the trendy restaurant, Diamond Jim’s. The whole mood is very festive and full of fun. It never seems like work. Everything is so enjoyable.
Vishnujana has really flowered since moving to La Cienega. The devotees are very enlivened because he is such a good preacher. He can also lead kirtan for eight to ten hours a day. Day in and day out.
For a change of pace, Vishnujana takes the sankirtan party out to Sunset Strip on the weekends.
Sukadeva: I was walking around Sunset Boulevard, and I heard a kirtan going on. By Krishna’s grace I walked around the corner to check it out, and there were the devotees. Vishnujana was leading the kirtan, with Tamal Krishna, Sudama, Umapati, and a lot of devotees from the LA temple. I had heard the Hare Krishna mantra in College. I had gone to some peace marches and heard the mantra. So I just sat down with them and started chanting. Tamal came up, gave me some incense, gave me a card, and invited me to the temple. I moved in the first night because Sudama invited me to stay the night.
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.
[From Radha-Damodar Vilasa by Vaiyasaki dasa Adhikari]
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Hare Krishna Prabhu
Please accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
In the above article Labangalatika mataji says, “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.”
So is it difficult to go out on sankirtan and to distribute books because of being on the bodily platform? Is there no difficulty (although outwardly there may be) when one is absorbed in Krishna Consciousness just like Vishnujana Swami Prabhu was?
Is this realization of mine correct?
Hare Krsihna Aman
Yes. It can be very difficult to go out on sankirtan because the mind is our enemy. The mind will come up with so many excuses as to why we should not go out and distribute Prabhupada’s books… But it is all maya and if you can somehow or other beat the mind into submission and force yourself to go out and distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books then you will see wonderful things happening. But not all the time. Sometimes no one will stop, sometimes you can go for hours not selling a single book then suddenly everything will change and everyone you talk to stops and buys books and you end up selling heaps of books. But if you get discouraged and go home during the hours when no one will stop and you can’t sell any books then you don’t sell any books.
‘
So it is about determination. There are a lot of very ecstatic things that happen when you are distributing Prabhupada’s books but at the same time there are also times when it is very hard. Of course it is always hard to convince your mind to let you go out on book distribution, but even if you get out then maya does not stop trying to discourage you. So it is not always easy. We have to become very determined and go out on book distribution even though our mind it trying to convince us to stay home and then we have to force the mind to let us stay out there during the difficult times when no one is buying the books and then we will experience the magic that happens on book distribution.
This is tapasya, austerity. To make spiritual advancement we need to perform tapasya. That means we have to voluntarily accept things that are painful for the purpose of making spiritual advancement. So some of the aspects of trying to sell Prabhupada’s books to the conditioned souls can be somewhat painful from the material point of view, but we have to be prepared to voluntarily accept this pain for the sake of serving Srila Prabhupada, pleasing Srila Prabhupada, and that will be very favorable for our advancement in Krishna consciousness because Srila Prabhupada will notice that we are undergoing great austerity to try and push on his mission of selling his books to the conditioned souls.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
All glories to Vishnujana Prabhu’s kirtans!
Sir,
It has been a long time since I did not send a comment and I also did not want to now. But I could not just bear a thing myself. I do not know if I just landed upon the right website or not. But what I read made me very, very greatly aggrieved that I had to write you a comment.
There it was written that the great devotee Vishnujana Maharaja whose songs were beautiful and was my very favourite had committed suicide. I do not know if it is of my concern or not. But I am totally confused. I was just searching when he disappeared because I thought he was too young. But what I read totally shattered me. Could you please, please tell me if it is true if you know about it?? I just can’t bear it for some reason. I really curse myself for landing upon that website. He was so, so, so great devotee.
Please tell me . I am sorry if it is an irrelevant topic but I really could not tolerate it.
Thank You.
Hare Krishna Rukmini
Visnujana Prabhu disappeared. Srila Prabhupada did not believe that he committed suicide. So I do not believe that he committed suicide. So it is a mystery where Visnujana Prabhu disappeared to. Some say he drowned in the Ganges or in the Yamuna, but no evidence of this was ever found. Visnujana just disappeared…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa
Sir,
Thank you so, so much. This news lightened my burden very, very much. I don’t know why but this man had influenced me so much. His songs like Kabe Habe, Vrindavana Ramya Sthana were truly mesmerizing. The suicide rumour was truly saddening me and I was weeping the whole day, even at night during sleeping time, and even after waking up. I could not chant one round properly without sobbing nor could I read Prabhupada’s books for my mind was going to the sight where Vishnujana was tying a rock to his back and jumping into the sea.
Now my mind has become very much light. I knew Vishnujana Maharaj would not do such a thing. Now I will again become fixed in Prabhupada’s service. As you told earlier I have already told two of my friends at school and now they have started chanting 16 rounds and reading BG. They have also told their friend about this and now she also wants to read BG.
Once again thank you very, very much for clearing my doubt and for taking away my sadness. When now Prabhupada has said like that I have no doubt at all.
All Glories To Srila Prabhupada!!!
Thank You!!
Sweet story. Visnujana ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
I have heard Vishnujana Swami’s Damodarastaka – it’s so heavenly beautiful. Glories to Srila Prabhupada and his wonderful disciples.