In India, spiritualism is a sensitive topic and evokes strong reactions if a raw nerve is pressed. That is what happened with Iskcon monk Amogh Lila Das. He immediately got reprimanded by the Iskcon for his disparaging remarks against Swami Vivekanada, a staunch proponent of Sanatan Dharam which Iskcon also propagates, made at one of his recent ‘pravachans.’

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) has banned him for a month. He not only made controversial remarks about the great philosopher Swami Vivekananda, but also his guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa.

Famous as Amogh Lila Prabhu, he is a popular figure on social media with a huge fan following for his religious and motivational speech. He was serving as the vice-president of the Iskcon temple at Dwarka in Delhi.

In one of his pravachans, Amogh Lila Das raised the topic of the consumption of fish by Swami Vivekananda.  “Will a virtuous man ever eat fish? A fish also feels pain, right? Will a virtuous man eat fish then?” he said, addressing the gathering. He also took a swipe at Swami Vivekananda’s guru, Ramakrishna Paramhans.

In a statement released by Iskcon it said that it was pained by Amogh Lila Das’s “lack of understanding about the great teachings of these two personalities.”

The Iskcon said that Amogh Lila Prabhu had confessed to making a mistake. He would therefore cut himself off from all forms of socializing for one month as part of atonement, the press release stated.

Amogh has a quirky style of speaking at his discourses which endears him to many people.

Who is Amogh Lila Das?

Amogh Lila Das was an engineer working for a US-based company.

His original name is Ashish Arora who belongs to Lucknow. He embarked on a spiritual journey in 2000 when he was in Class 12.

His time had not come yet, he decided to return and pursue a degree in software engineering. After his graduation way back in 2004, he began working for a US-based multinational corporation.

He left the corporate world in 2010. By 29, he joined Iskcon and became a dedicated Hare Krishna Brahmachari (celibate).