Formerly known as Bhawani Charan Bandyopadhyaya, he was a classmate of Narendranath Datta (later Swami Vivekananda) at the General Assembly’s Institution. He later came in contact with Sri Ramakrishna and Keshub Chandra Sen. He turned away from Hinduism to first become a Protestant and later a Catholic, when he started Sophia in 1894. He also started Swaraj and Sandhya, and authored Amar Bharat Uddhar, Samaj Tattwa, Bilatyatri Sannyasir Cithi etc.

(Crowned with all treasures—that is what you are. Although you have appeared in the guise of a penniless, ascetic Brahmin, I have been able to ascertain from the contented and serene look of your eyes the truth of your identity. In spite of your pretention of being an illiterate person, I have realized—you are that

Custodian of the Vedas! Otherwise, in whose nectar-words the message of the Vedas and Vedanta could spring in such a manner ! You are ever playful.You wanted to make fools of us this time also; but we have seen through your game, O Lord, we have recognized you. You are Ramakrishna, indeed! Are you not Rama and Krsna in One ?)

(Do you know who is Ramakrishna? Lord Visnu incarnates Himself as and when an old age ends yielding place to a new one. Sri Krsna gave us this eternal truth towards the close of Dvapara-yuga and the beginning of Kali-yuga :

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam Dharmasamsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge

[For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evildoers, and for the establishment of religion, I am born in every age.] He who is known as Ramakrishna today is the fulfilment of that great promise in this age. In His grace He came to the world to fulfil what we cannot attain through our efforts and [limited] power. …Hindu culture with its long history owes its origin to His sacred feet. And he [Ramakrishna] came to manifest in his own life and thus to rejuvenate the ideal, knowledge, and culture of the Hindus…. That explains why the banner of Vedanta has gone up in America. That explains why Hindu scriptures are looked upon with more and more respect in England. Do you know with what earnest craving the white men and women are striving now to toe the line of your society? Do you know whose grace has brought about this? No, it has not come about through your education—an education that goes to turn out mere slaves! [Know it for certain that] behind all this is the grace of that Brahmin.)