Page 17 - Dream 2047 Aug 2021

SWATANTRATA KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV Amartya Kumar Dutta
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray:
A Rishi Dadhichi in the Service of his Nation
One of the greatest sages of Indian mythology is Rishi Dadhichi, who had sacrificed his life so that the Devas could manufacture their powerful weapon, the Vajra, from his bones. It is with a special reverence that he has been remembered in Indian traditions throughout the ages. His supreme
sacrifice has inspired the motif of the Param Vir Chakra medal, India’s highest military award, which contains four Vajras. If we now consider the enormous sacrificial contributions of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray (born in 1861) in the service of his nation, we cannot help see a reflection of Rishi Dadhichi in him.
A Farewell Address of Sri Aurobindo
Let us revisit the life of Acharya Prafulla Chandra in the light of the following patriotic ideals formulated by Sri Aurobindo towards the end of his Farewell Address to the students of Bengal National College in 1907:
“If you will study, study for her sake; train yourself body and mind and soul for her service. You will earn your living that you may live for her sake. You will go abroad to foreign lands that you may bring back knowledge with which you may do service to her. Work that she may prosper. Suffer that she may rejoice. All is contained in that one single advice.”
Acharya Prafulla Chandra was verily an embodiment of the ideals so powerfully formulated by Sri Aurobindo.
An intense love for India and her people was the fountain spring from which flowed the various streams of activities of Acharya Ray. He was the pathfinder in modern India of chemical research. He is one of the two scientists, along with J.C. Bose, who started modern research in science in India. He was the first to present before the world an authentic account of the history of ancient Indian chemistry and chemical technology. He was the pioneer of chemical education in India. He was a great teacher and mentor and the creator of what
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray
is known as the “Indian School of Chemistry”. Acharya Ray was the founder of chemical and pharmaceutical industries in India. He was an extensive writer, he contributed to nationalist causes, and he was a social worker with exceptional munificence.
P.C. Ray belonged to the middle-period of the Indian renaissance. Himself a product of the early phase of the renaissance, Acharya Ray had enormous impact on the scientific, intellectual, economic and social renaissance in India in general and Bengal in particular.
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