Who Is Amogh Lila Das, The ISKCON Monk Who Has Been BANNED For Criticising Swami Vivekananda And Ramakrishna Paramhans?

Taking note of his unsavoury comments, ISKCON has imposed a one-month ban on monk Amogh Lila Das.

Kolkata: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has "banned" a monk who stirred a big controversy by criticising youth icon, great thinker and philosopher Swami Vivekananda and his revered guru Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Taking swift action against Das for making derogatory & snide remarks on India’s most revered saintly figures, the ISKCON said, ''We are very much pained by his totally inappropriate & unacceptable remarks and his lack of understanding about the great teachings of these two personalities.” 

What’s The Controversy Surrounding Amogh Lila Das? 

The monk in question, Amogh Lila Das, courted controversy by criticised Swami Vivekananda for eating fish and saying that a virtuous person can never harm a living being. Das also made sarcastic remarks about Swami Vivekananda’s teacher Ramakrishna's teaching of "Jato Mat Tato Path" (as many opinions, as many paths), saying that ‘’not every path leads to the same destination.’’

A bitter controversy erupted after a video clip of the monk making those objectionable remarks went viral on social media, evoking sharp reactions.

ISKCON punishes monk Amogh Lila Das for making derogatory & outrageous comments against Ramkrishna Paramhansa & Swami Vivekananda by banning him for one month. Monk Amogh Das will remain in the hills of Govardhan for one month & completely seclude himself from the public life… pic.twitter.com/hLx1AvPvqg

— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) July 11, 2023

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."

One-Month Ban On The Monk

Taking appropriate measures, ISKCON issued a statement in which it said that the views expressed by Das are not representative of its values and teachings. "We condemn any form of disrespect and intolerance towards other religious beliefs and practices," it said. It also said the "derogatory remarks" shows a lack of awareness in Das about the diversity of spiritual paths and personal choices.

"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," the statement said.

"He has taken a vow to go on 'prayaschit' (atonement) for 1 month in the hills of Govardhan and will completely seclude himself from the public life with immediate effect," it added.

So, Who Is Amogh Lila Das?

Amogh Leela Prabhu is a spiritual-motivational speaker and social worker. He currently serves as the Vice President of the Dwarka chapter of ISKCON. Born in a Punjabi family in Lucknow, Das, 43, is a software engineer by profession. His real name is Ashish Arora. Amogh Leela Das currently resides in Delhi. He was very religious from childhood and read the verses of the Bhagavad Gita while he was still studying in school.

Impressed with the philosophy and life-changing teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Amogh Leela Das decided to delve deeper to know more about the ancient Hindu religious text. 

After obtaining his software engineering degree, Das worked as a software engineer for some time but soon quit his full-time job to tread on the path of spirituality. He went to the Dwarka centre of ISKCON for his spiritual training and took a vow of celibacy. Amogh Lila Das projects himself as a motivational strategist, spiritual activist and preacher and enjoys a huge fan following. His videos are very popular and get good traction on social media.