Rishi Rajnarayan Bose

The father of Sri Aurobindo's mother, Swarnalata, the 'grandfather of Indian nationalism', the militant defender of his country, the Olympian champion of Truth, the ruthless antagonist of sham, and, above all, a holy personage of hallowed memory who arouses a profound esteem and veneration in the hearts of Bengalis, is Rishi Rajnarayan Bose.

Some of his countrymen took him amiss. They took him for an old man who clung to the education and culture of ancient India, be it supremely good or abysmally bad.

According to him, no other country in the hoary past dared belittle India for anything. And now why should it be otherwise? Indians must be Indians heart and soul. To ape the English is to ask the presiding Deity of India to quit her own throne. And what, after all, would they get by this mad pursuit? Nothing short of self-perdition. He was a pioneer in the field of giving concrete shape to Indian nationalism.