महर्षी विठ्ठल रामजी शिंदे हे प्रार्थना समाजापासुन दूर गेले कारण त्यातील मंडळीना शिंदे यांनी केलेली ही गोष्ट खटकली.

The correct answer is Option B (he offered prayers in Prarthana Samaj when Lokmanya Tilak was sentenced to jail).

Key Points:
• Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde and Prarthana Samaj:
• Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde served as an ordained missionary (Pracharak) of the Bombay Prarthana Samaj from 1903 onwards after returning from Manchester College, Oxford.
• In 1908, when nationalist leader Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was convicted of sedition and sentenced to 6 years of rigorous imprisonment in Mandalay jail, Shinde was deeply moved.
• Shinde organized and offered a special public prayer service (*Eshwar Prarthana*) in the Prarthana Samaj Mandir for Tilak's health and well-being.
• Several conservative and pro-British moderate members of the Prarthana Samaj strongly objected to offering prayers for a radical political leader convicted of sedition against the Crown.
• This severe ideological resentment and conservative opposition alienated Shinde, leading him to sever his institutional links with Prarthana Samaj and devote himself entirely to the Depressed Classes Mission.
• Key Takeaway: Maharshi Shinde drifted from Prarthana Samaj after members resented his holding prayers for Lokmanya Tilak upon his 1908 conviction.