ISKCON Bans Monk For Insulting Swami Vivekananda
Amogh Lila Das, a monk with ISKCON got embroiled in a controversy for disrespecting Swami Vivekanand and Ramakrishna Paramhans.
Amogh Lila Das, 43, is a monk, spiritual activist, and motivational speaker, who has been associated with ISKCON for 12 years. His real name is Ashish Arora and he was born in Lucknow. After acquiring a degree in software engineering in 2004, he started working for a US-based multinational corporation. However, he left the corporate world in 2010 and became a dedicated Hare Krishna Brahmachari by joining ISKCON at the age of 29. He enjoys a huge fan following on social media and his videos about religion and motivation often go viral online.
A few days ago, Amogh Lila Das in his speeches on the outskirts of Kolkata criticized Swami Vivekananda and his teacher Ramakrishna Paramhans' teaching. Both of whom are revered not only in Bengal and India, but even internationally. About Swami Vivekanand he said, “Will a virtuous man ever eat fish? A fish also feels pain, right? Will a virtuous man eat fish then?” He also took a dig at Swami Vivekananda's guru, Ramakrishna Paramhans.
The remarks were followed by a backlash on social media with netizens demanding action against the monk for making such comments. Sharing the clip, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh, tweeted, "We revere ISKCON. But they should stop him now. Insulting Ramakrishna and Vivekananda will not be tolerated. Immediate action should be taken against this so-called monk."
In a statement, ISKCON said the views expressed by Das are not representative of ISKCON’s values and teachings. "We condemn any form of disrespect and intolerance towards other religious beliefs and practices. We are pained by his lack of understanding of the teachings of these 2 revered personalities. Taking note of this serious mistake committed by him, ISKCON has decided to ban him for 1 month. We have communicated our decision to him. Amogh Lila Das has begged for forgiveness for his comments, and he is realizing what a great disservice he has done. He has taken a vow to go on 'prayaschit' (atonement) for 1 month in the hills of Govardhan and will completely seclude himself from public life with immediate effect.”
