This nationalist and social reformer of Maharashtra dedicated his life to social service and the promotion of education. One of the founders of the New English School and later Fergusson College, his life was a continuous battle for social reforms like the elevation of the status of women and the elimination of the caste system. He propagated his views through the weekly, Sudharak, which he founded in 1888.

An uncompromising champion of rationalism, he critically examined the foundations of Hinduism and called for reform of its outmoded practices, its superstitions and its obstruction to reforms. He was an early advocate of family planning. He popularised Western political and philosophical principles by widely writing on Mill, Spencer and several others.