- Wednesday, April 23, 2025
The remarks also caused outrage on social media and ISKCON soon came up with the statement distancing itself from the monk.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on Tuesday (11) imposed a one-month ban on one of its monks Amogh Lila Das for making controversial remarks on Swami Vivekananda and his mentor Ramakrishna Paramhansa, two highly revered figures in India’s spiritual history.
Amogh Lila Das, who is a popular spiritual motivational speaker, questioned Vivekananda over his consumption of fish during one of his speech sessions, saying a virtuous man would never harm an animal.
Official press release from @IskconKolkata pic.twitter.com/GWfCVodCVm
— Joyesh Halder (@HalderJoyesh) July 11, 2023
“Will a virtuous man ever eat fish? A fish also feels pain, right? Will a virtuous man eat fish then?” Das said, addressing a crowd of people. He said as a person, he respects Vivekananda but not blindly.
“I appreciate him for the good work that he has done, like giving a lecture on Hindutva in Chicago. But certain things are not acceptable and they can’t be accepted,” Das said.
ISKCON ‘Monk’ Amogh Lila outrageously Insults two of Bengal’s biggest Hindu spiritual Monk Swami Vivekananda & Ramakrishna Parmahansa & feels everything about them is wrong . pic.twitter.com/H7j5kLRpp0
— সত্যান্বেষী (@satyanewshi) July 10, 2023
The monk did not spare Ramakrishna Paramhansa. He mocked his famous line: “Jato Mat Tato Path” (as there are a number of beliefs, there are a number of ways), saying it can’t be true.
“All roads do not lead to the same destination. It doesn’t have logic. Even the GPS will tell you have gone mad. The way has been lost,” Das said, targeting Paramhansa.
The Iskcon monk also criticises Fish eating habits of Bengali Hindus, implying that they are essentially non conformance to Hindu religion negating Shakta cult in Hinduism.
Wonder what is Ramkrishna Mission’s reaction to all this pic.twitter.com/RCgOivv2rW— সত্যান্বেষী (@satyanewshi) July 10, 2023
Kunal Ghosh, a top official of Trinamool Congress, the ruling party of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, slammed the monk on social media saying actions should be taken against him for insulting leaders such as Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.
In a Bengali tweet in which he also posted one of the videos of Das, Ghosh said, “We all love ISKCON. But they should stop this man for his garrulity. Insult to Ramakrishna, Vivekananda will not be tolerated. Immediate action should be taken against this so-called monk.”
ইস্কন আমাদের প্রিয়। কিন্তু তার এই বাচালের অসভ্যতা বন্ধ করুন তাঁরা। রামকৃষ্ণ, বিবেকানন্দকে অপমান করে এসব কথা বললে বরদাস্ত করা হবে না। অবিলম্বে এই তথাকথিত সন্ন্যাসীর বিরুদ্ধে ব্যবস্থা নেওয়া হোক। https://t.co/6eO9rRJVms
— Kunal Ghosh (@KunalGhoshAgain) July 11, 2023
The remarks also caused outrage on social media and ISKCON soon came up with the statement distancing itself from the monk. It said it was pained by Das’s “inappropriate and unacceptable comments and his lack of understanding about the great teachings of these two personalities”.
It said he would be banned for a month.
The statement also said that Das had “begged for forgiveness for his comments” and has “taken a vow to go on ‘prayaschit’ (atonement) for one month in the hills of Govardhan” and will immediately seclude himself from public life completely.
