He was born as Mark Stephen Datillo on June 2, 1948, inSan Jose,California to parents Maureen (née Desmet) (1924-2017) and Joseph D'Attilo (1923-2006). At the age of seventeen, he moved toSan Francisco along with his girlfriend, whom he then married. In 1966–1967 Vishnujana first came into contact with the Hare Krishnas, and by 1968 he had receivedinitiation from Srila Prabhupada and became a full-time member of the movement. On July 20, 1970, he was ordained a sannyasa.
Vishnujana played the harmonium andmridanga. Musical recordings of Vishnujana would later be released in 1995[3]
By 1973, he led a group of Hare Krishnas, the Radha-Damodara Traveling Sankirtan Party (named after the particularmurtis (deities) carried on the bus), in a proselytizing bus trip across the USA.[4]
In March 16, 1976,[5][6] during theGaura Purnima festival inIndia, Vishnujana Swami disappeared.[7] "Disappear" is a word used in the Vaishnava/Hare Krishna movement that means "to die."[8]
In 1999, a biography of Vishnujana Swami entitledRadha-Damodara Vilasa was published by Vaiyasaki das Adhikari.
