A statement was issued by The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) on Tuesday banning one of their monks, Amogh Lila Das, for making a derogatory comment on Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramhans.
The social media videos of spiritual motivational speaker Amogh Lila Das are particularly well-liked. Amogh Lila Das questioned Swami Vivekananda’s ingestion of fish during one of his “pravachans,” saying that a virtuous man would never eat something that would harm an animal.
“Will a virtuous man ever eat fish? A fish also feels pain, right? Will a virtuous man eat fish then?” Amogh Lila Das said, addressing a crowd of people. He also took a dig at Swami Vivekananda’s guru, Ramakrishna Paramhans.
The remarks caused a social media uproar, which prompted Iskcon to take action against its monk.
Iskcon released a statement in which it expressed its sorrow at Amogh Lila Das’s “inappropriate and unacceptable comments and his lack of understanding about the great teachings of these two personalities,” and announced that he would be expelled from Iskcon for a month.
Amogh Lila Das “begged for forgiveness for his comments,” according to the statement, and “took a vow to go on ‘prayaschit’ (atonement) for one month in the hills of Govardhan.” He was to fully withdraw from public life with immediate effect, according to the statement.
