In the year 1895, fateful encounter transpired between Sister Nivedita and Swami Vivekananda on the vibrant streets of London. It was an encounter that would set the course for her transformative journey. In 1898, her voyage took her to the enchanting city of Calcutta, where the spiritual luminary Swami Vivekananda initiated her into the sacred vow of Brahmacharya, a significant turning point on March 25, 1898.
The noble aspirations of Swamiji extended beyond the confines of his own spiritual quest. He envisioned Sister Nivedita as an instrument of empowerment for her gender, with a special focus on the realms of healthcare and education. In response to this clarion call, she dedicated the entirety of her life to championing these noble causes, thus becoming an emblem of devotion and service.
To introduce Sister Nivedita to the local people, in his speech Swami Vivekananda said – “England has sent us another gift in Miss Margaret Noble.”
Sister Nivedita’s Quotes
A single generation enamoured of foreign ways is almost enough in history to risk the whole continuity of civilization and learning. Ages of accumulation are entrusted to the frail bark of each passing epoch by the hand of the past, desiring to make over its treasures to the use of the future. It takes a certain stubbornness, a doggedness of loyalty, even a modicum of unreasonable conservatism maybe, to lose nothing in the long march of the ages; and, even when confronted with great empires, with a sudden extension of the idea of culture, or with the supreme temptation of a new religion, to hold fast what we have, adding to it only as much as we can healthfully and manfully carry.
—-The whole history of the world shows that the Indian intellect is second to none. This must be proved by the performance of a task beyond the power of others, the seizing of the first place in the intellectual advance of the world. Is there any inherent weakness that would make it impossible for us to do this? Are the countrymen of Bhaskaracharya and Shankaracharya inferior to the countrymen of Newton and Darwin? We trust not. It is for us, by the power of our thought, to break down the iron walls of opposition that confront us, and to seize and enjoy the intellectual sovereignty of the world.
—-I believe that India is one, indissoluble, indivisible.
—-Our whole past shall be made a part of the world’s life. That is what is called the realization of the national idea. But it must be realised everywhere,
—-in the world idea. In order to attain a larger power of giving, we may break through any barrier of custom. But it is written inexorably in the very nature of things, that if we sacrifice custom merely for some mean and selfish motive, fine men and women everywhere will refuse to admit us to their fellowship.
—-Our daily life creates our symbol of God. No two ever cover quite the same conception.
—-For thousands of years must Indian women have risen with the light to perform the Salutation of the Threshold. Thousands of years of simplicity and patience, like that of the peasant, like that of the grass, speak in the beautiful rite. It is this patience of woman that makes civilisations. It is this patience of the Indian woman, with this her mingling of large power of reverie, that has made and makes the Indian nationality.
Her missions
She organised and opened a girls’ school in Bagbazar area of Calcutta, to educate girls. Her dedication was so much for a cause that she used to visit the houses to pursue the girls to join her school. Sister Nivedita always tried to educate her students with the nationalist spirit. She introduced singing of ‘Vande Màtaram’ in her school as a prayer.
She was very close to Sarada Devi, wife of Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans.
Dedicated social worker
She played a pivotal role during the plague epidemic in Calcutta. She nursed and took care of poor patients and helped in clearing garbage from the streets. She inspired and motivated youths to render voluntary services.
She was a social worker, teacher and author. In fact she was inspired from her father and college teachers that service to mankind is the true service to God.
Association with Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose
She is known for her unwavering support for Indian scientist, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose and his work. She helped him in carrying on his work and provided the necessary financial aid.
Rabindranath Tagore said: “In the day of his success, Jagadish gained an invaluable energiser and helper in Sister Nivedita, and in any record of his life’s work her name must be given a place of honor.” Nivedita took active interest on Jagadish Chandra Bose’s scientific activities.
Sister Nivedita as dedicated Freedom Fighter of Bharat
She was among the five members of the political committee appointed by Aurobindo Ghosh to unite the small and scattered groups of revolutionaries in to a single organization.
She used to organise sunday get-togethers of scientists, artists, journalists, nationalists and revolutionaries at her home and prominent among them was Barindra Ghosh, the younger brother of Aurobindo.
She condemned the appointment of the ‘University Commission’ to strangulate the national education system in 1902.
She spoke strongly in support of the resolution moved by the famous revolutionary, Anand Mohan Bose against British government’s decision to divide Bengal in 1905 in her public meetings.
She was a prolific writer and used to contribute articles for Prabuddha Bharat, Sandhya, Dawn and New India.
The plan for revolutionary newspaper “Yugantar” by Aurbindo, his brother Barindra Ghosh and Swami Vivekananda’s younger brother Bhupendra Nath Dutta was made at her house on March 12, 1906.
She was also inspiration behind ‘Bande Matram’ by Bipin Chandra Pal and Bala Bharath by Tirumalachari.
She ensured the uninterrupted publication of Yugantar when Bhupendra Nath Dutta was imprisoned and also helped in collection of funds for paying fine of Rs 10000/.
She helped revolutionaries at home but also abroad. She went to England in 1907 and started publishing the reports of meetings and interviews with British parliamentarians.
She helped number of revolutionaries like Bhupendra Nath Dutta, Tarak Dutta in exile and collected funds for uninterrupted publication of revolutionary journals from abroad and their distribution.
Sister Nivedita was a multifaceted extra-ordinary individual. She merged her identity with spirit of Bharatiyata.
Life dedicated to people
During the plague outbreak in Calcutta in 1899 and the great East Bengal famine of 1906 she risked her own life to treat patients. After treating people during the famine, Sister Nivedita contracted a severe form of malaria that eventually took her life. She died in Darjeeling on 13 October 1911 at the age of 44.
On her memorial these words are mentioned, “Here reposes Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India”.
In order to truly offer worship to Shiva you have to be Shiva. Shivo Bhutva Shivam Yajet. Sister Nivedita, so to say, became one with Mother India. She understood India in all her dimensions
When Swami Vivekananda went to West, he was there without friends, without money and without recognition. Only the knowledge and experience of Hindu Dharma was with him. After his exposition of Hindu Dharma in the Parliament of Religions held in September 1893 at Chicago, he was revered in the West for his knowledge and help came from all quarters, the disciples gathered from all directions. Thus when he returned to India, he was a world-famous Swami Vivekananda; the western disciples were with him. This visual had a great psychological impact on people of India. They could feel and their confidence grew in the greatness and relevance of Hindu Dharma. An epitome of this efficacy and relevance of Hindu Dharma and of the work of Swami Vivekananda in the West was Sister Nivedita.
Margaret Noble as Nivedita was called before, was from the very race, which had robbed India of her wealth as well as of her confidence. But Nivedita came to India to live like us, to serve us and also to practice all that was higher and noble in our spiritual tradition. She could see beauty and wisdom in all walks of Indian life.
How could a proud and an accomplished British woman see the beauty of Indian life? She had to undergo a painful process of transformation. Margaret Noble came to India to serve Indians after she was totally convinced about the Vedantic Truth of Oneness. After the consecration ceremony, she was given the name ‘Nivedita’ – ‘the dedicated’. But just a new name was not going to erase all the assumptions and biases that she had harboured till then as Margaret Noble. Swami Vivekananda, in his classes attacked mercilessly on her deep rooted perceptions and misconceptions. Imagine! Swamiji was the only person who was known to her in this vast and strange land and he appeared so harsh. The anguish that Nivedita felt was very great. But not once a thought of returning back or doubting the wisdom of her decision of accepting Swami Vivekananda as her guru came to her mind. Her only concern was “whether I shall understand what my master is trying to tell me”. Her sincerity of purpose and utmost efforts ultimately transformed her completely. She became one with India to serve in total surrender. It is said that to truly offer worship to Shiva you have to be Shiva. Shivo Bhutva Shivam Yajet. Nivedita so to say became one with Mother India. She understood India in all her dimensions and loved Indians with all their faults.
Total Transformation
It is this total transformation of Nivedita which is a great example for Macaulay Educated Indians. If a proud and accomplished British woman can burn to ashes all her prejudices, misconceptions and her western mind-set and if with total paradigm shift she could become a true Indian, a great admirer, worshiper and servant of Mother India, then why not we? We the Macaulay educated can also burn to ashes completely all our preconceptions and ignorance and become true Indians. When she could get insight into the depths of Indian wisdom why can’t we? When one wants to serve Motherland one has to change oneself so as to become the right instrument in the hands of God. Sister Nivedita is thus an inspiration for all those who want to serve our society.
Nivedita was one with the people, their aspirations that her life, her actions, her words reflected that oneness which she experienced. She always said our people, our country. We see many a times that those who go to ‘serve’ the people in villages and in tribal areas with the sense that they are going to ‘civilise’ and to ‘develop’ these people use words like ‘this society’, ‘these people’. They force their ideas and world-views on those simple people. This is what Swami Vivekananda did not want to happen with his foreign disciples. He wanted them to accept India as she was; he wanted them to learn from India. Sister Nivedita internalised it so fully that Bipin Chandra Pal said, “Nivedita came to us not as a teacher but as a learner, not as an adept but as a novice and she loved India more than even we Indians love her.”
She inculcated and internalised the Vedantic vision so well that she wrote, “If the many and the One be indeed the same Reality, then it is not all modes of worship alone, but equally all modes of work, all modes of struggle, all modes of creation, which are paths of realisation. No distinction, henceforth, between sacred and secular. To labour is to pray. To conquer is to renounce. Life is itself religion. To have and to hold is as stern a trust as to quit and to avoid.”
That is what she imbibed from Swami Vivekananda. Thus she wrote about him, “This is the realisation which makes Vivekananda the great preacher of Karma, not as divorced from, but as expressing Jnana and Bhakti. To him, the workshop, the study, the farmyard, and the field are as true and fit scenes for the meeting of God with man as the cell of the monk or the door of the temple. To him, there is no difference between service of man and worship of God, between manliness and faith, between true righteousness and spirituality. All his words, from one point of view, read as a commentary upon this central conviction.” “Art, science, and religion,” he said once, “are but three different ways of expressing a single truth. But in order to understand this we must have the theory of Advaita.” For Nivedita Vedanta became practical. Her spirituality thus expressed in her contributions to all walks of life.
It appears that the legacy of fire that was in Swami Vivekananda was given to Sister Nivedita. The flames of burning love for India in Sister Nivedita were so great that Sri Aurobindo called her Agnishikha – the flames of fire! No field of national life was left untouched by her fire. Her top most concern was the well-being of India and the awakening of Indian national consciousness whatever may be the field of action.
New Education Vision
In the field of Education, Nivedita wanted, “Indian educators to extend and fulfill the vision of Swami Vivekananda”. How would it be done? She explained, “This thought that education is not only good for child himself but should be more so for Jana-Desh-Dharma should always be present in the minds of educators. There is no fear of weakness and selfishness for one whose whole training has been formed round this nucleus. Each day should begin with some conscious act of reference to it. Education in India today has to be not only national but Nation-making. We must surround our children with the thought of their nation and their country. …The centre of gravity must lie for them outside the family. We must demand their sacrifices for India; Bhakti for India; learning for India. The ideal for its own sake! India for the sake of India! This must be as the breath of life to them.
…It is a mistake to think that heroes are born. Nothing of the sort. They are made not born; made by the pressure of heroic thought. All human beings long at bottom of their heart for self-sacrifice. No other thirst is so deep as this. Let us recognise this, direct this towards single thought i.e. love for the country. …The universe is the creation of mind not matter. And can any force in the world resist a single thought held with intensity by 700 million of people? …How to do that? A national education then must be made up of familiar elements. Our Imagination must be based upon our heroic literature. Geographical ideals must be built up first through the ideals of India. Same is for history. All other histories should run around the Indian History.” The school that Nivedita run for the girls enshrined all these thoughts so well that when Rabindranath Tagore wanted to start Shantiniketan, most of the lady teachers were the former students of Nivedita’s school.
Womanhood of India
Sister Nivedita was so charmed by the womanhood of India among whom she lived in the lanes of Calcutta that her description about them are the best tribute. She says, “What differentiates the Indian training from others? I find one answer which outweighs all others in my estimate. It is this. The special greatness of Indian life and character depends more than on any other feature, on the place that is given to Woman in the social scheme. They say that Indian women are ignorant and oppressed. To all who make this statement we may answer that Indian women are certainly not oppressed. The crimes of ill-treating women is at once less common and less brutal in form here than in younger countries. And the happiness, the social importance, and may I say, the lofty character of Indian women are amongst the grandest possessions of the national life. When we come to the charge that Indian women are ignorant, we meet with a far deeper fallacy. They are ignorant in the modern form, that is to say, few can write, and not very many can read. Are they then illiterate? If so, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and the Puranas and stories every mother and every grandmother tells to the babies, are no literature. But European novels and Strand Magazine by the same token are? Can any of us accept this paradox? The fact is, writing is not culture though it is an occasional result of culture. The greatest literature occurs at the beginning of a literary age and so, to those who know Indian life, it is easy to see that an Indian woman who has the education of the Indian home, the dignity, the gentleness, the cleanliness, the thrift, the religious training, the culture of mind and heart, which that home life entails, though she cannot perhaps read a word of her own language, much less sign her name, may be infinitely better educated in every true sense, and in the literary sense also, than her glib critic.”
Guide in the Task of Nation-building
Writings of Sister Nivedita were a symphony of her insight in Indian wisdom and tradition, her intense love for India, her sharp intellect and her mastery over language. So beautiful, deep and moving were her writings that it is really difficult to translate those in other languages. May be that is the reason that most of her literature even today remains un-translated. Her literature has not only historical and literary value but are good guide in the task of nation-building too.
For example: while comparing with other nations she sums up in few words the journey and contribution of Hindu nation from antiquity to till now. She writes, “Let it be said that to every people who possess the elements of truly national existence, with the responsibility of facing the problems of a nation, this question sooner or later comes to be faced. Have we in the past dreamt dreams great enough, thought thoughts noble enough, willed with a will clear enough, to enable us to strike out new paths into the untried, without error and without defeat? And perhaps of all the peoples of the world only the Hindu people, to this searching enquiry can answer yes.” She was a regular contributor to over 20 magazines and the topic was always ‘India’. Therefore, not just because Sister Nivedita was a great example of transformation but we have to study her life and works also because, even today she can give insight to us i.e. the English educated about our own nation and its significance.
Why Imitate Europeans?
While she helped the country bent under the burden of sorrow whether during plagues or floods or freedom struggle, she lived completely merged in the essence of its freedom one day to come. Thus, she wanted the cultural assertion, the national expression in all walks of life. She stated, “The birth of the National Art of India is my dearest dream.” She disliked the art students imitating the European subjects in their art. When India has such rich culture and history of art she felt why should Indian artists imitate Europeans styles and subjects. She exhorted and inspired the young artists like Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose to choose India as their topic for expression. She would perceive the beauty of old houses of Bagh Bazar, and ruined temples but detested the modern utilitarian buildings built in India.
In the field of science, she felt Indians have great ability to contribute. When the British scientists tried to sideline Dr Jagadish Chandra Bose, she realised that Indians were not incapable but were incapacitated by British to achieve great heights. She came forward to help Dr Jagadish Chandra Bose. To make his work known to the world she worked along with him on his six books. Even though, she herself would be suffering for want of money; she saw to it that the work of Dr Jagadish Chandra Bose would not suffer monetarily.
When the revolutionaries would go to jail or in exile to other countries, she would take care of their families. Not a field of national life was left untouched by her.
Bitterness Had no Place in Her Heart
As it was required, Sister Nivedita resigned from Ramakrishna Mission and actively participated and promoted the freedom movement. Ramakrishna Mission—the fledgling organisation to propagate the message of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda was needed for India. And participation of Sister Nivedita in Freedom Movement and her active role in awakening national consciousness also was equally the need of the hour in the interest of India. Thus to protect Ramakrishna Mission and to promote the work of freedom of India, she resigned from Ramakrishna Mission. But, their relationships remained very cordial till end.
Nivedita considered herself as part of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda thought movement. Whenever she was sick, she was immediately attended to by Ramakrishna Math. In her work too the help was given by Ramakrishna Math and Mission in all possible ways. When she realised she would not live, in her will she donated all the money that she had got from Mrs. Bull just some time before her own death or from her books to Ramakrishna Mission as an endowment for the use of Sister Christine Greenstidel to run the school; though Christine had left her. Bitterness had no place in her heart. She associated with persons whom she thought would be useful in India’s interest. But she would also disassociate herself from them if she found it otherwise. For anything and everything in her life, the deciding touchstone was India and her well-being.
One of the foremost revolutionary Freedom fighter, Shri Hemachandra Ghosh’s reminiscence about Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita narrated to Swami Purnatmananda were later translated from Bengali to English by Prof Kapila Chatterjee and brought out as a book titled as I am India. In that he says, “It is very true that it was Nivedita who captured the fire of patriotism set alight by Vivekananda. She not only caught that flame, she also scattered the sparks of Indian patriotism and nationalism far and wide, across the length and breadth of India. Wherever Nivedita went, in any city or province of India, her flaming speeches and heroic calls to the Indian people spread the message of Swamiji, his ideals, his patriotism. Side by side, she spread the ideals, the culture, the glory of India, too. To speak frankly, we got to know Swami Vivekananda better through coming in contact with Sister Nivedita. I was with Swamiji for a very short time. But, I have been with Nivedita for a much longer period. Through Nivedita, we got to know Swamiji better and through her India also better. …What I feel about Nivedita is – Sister Nivedita played two important roles in spreading the message and deeds of Vivekananda – one was the role of Mahadeva, the other, that of Bhagiratha. She absorbed the terrific force and power of Vivekananda in her own person, and at the same time she carried the mighty current of that force and directed it along proper channels like Bhagiratha.”
Deep Love for India
Her deep love for India was expressed in all walks of life –politics, education, art, literature, sociology, spirituality etc. A spiritual person in all dimensional. That is how Sister Nivedita was. She was a revolutionary, she was a Yogini too. She was an educationist and she was an art critic too. She was a writer and she was involved in rendering service to the people also, be at flood time or plague time. She was at once a child at the feet of Holy Mother Sharada Devi and also a Lokmata to all as she was called by Rabindranath Tagore and above all she was Sister of all.
Swami Vivekananda had said, “O you of great fortune! I too believe that India will awake again if anyone could love with all his heart the people of the country—bereft of the grace of affluence, of blasted fortune, their discretion totally lost, downtrodden, ever—starved, quarrelsome, and envious.” Sister Nivedita was a person of that great fortune! She loved India and Indians with all their faults. 150th Birth Anniversary of Sister Nivedita is a good occasion to study and understand her life and work. May her life make us love our motherland and our people. May her life give us an insight in our own country and inspiration to work for Mother India.
Sister Nivedita: Embodiment of Shakti and Bhakti
Like her, Guru Swami Vivekananda, Margaret Elizabeth Noble, or Sister Nivedita (1867-1911), reverently called the ‘White flower of nobility’, lived a very small span of mortal life. However, her contributions to Indian life and society can never be judged by the number of years she physically lived. Sister Nivetita continues to live in the heart of every nationalist and humanist Indian who looks forward to an equal world even more than hundred years after she passed away. Nivedita’s father, Samuel Richmond Noble was a pastor. Service to mankind is the true service to God, is a lesson Nivedita learnt from him, early in life. Margaret lost her father when she was only ten years old and was brought up by her maternal grandfather who was one of the front ranking leaders of the freedom movement in Ireland. These two gentlemen had a deep imprint on Nivedita which led her to combine the quests for spirituality and nationalism in her own life. Margaret Noble had already started her school in Wimbledon and was preparing herself for the service to humanity, when she met Swami Vivekananda in November 1895, in London. She could soon hear the calling within herself. The tremendous energy and constructive spirit that had so long been dormant in her now found an outlet. In her own words, she always had a “burning voice within, but nothing to utter”. The meeting changed her life; as she later estimated in a letter to a friend in 1904 that, “How often and often I sat down, pen in hand, to speak and there was no speech. And now there is no end to it! As surely I am fitted to my world, so surely is my world in need of me, waiting-ready. The arrow has found its place in the bow.”
Move to Kolkata
A determined Elizabeth had travelled to Kolkata in 1898 leaving behind all her material possessions, friends and relatives. She brought with her to India the vision to change, the resolution to execute and the dedication to serve humanity. Miss Noble was initiated to the vow of brahmacharya on March 25, 1898. This Nivedita herself regarded as her rebirth and devoted her life to make her new name meaningful. Following a short probation in the Indian ways of life, Sarada Ma’s “khuki‟ and spiritual daughter of Swami Vivekananda, Nivedita soon started a school for girls in the Bosepara Lane of Bagbazar, Kolkata in November 1898. The school was opened on the auspicious day of Kali Puja. Sarada Ma blessed and prayed for the school. Goddess Kali, the embodiment of primordial feminine energy deeply impressed Nivedita. Consequently, her monograph, Kali The Mother (1900), also had a deep impact on contemporary intellectuals, like Abanindranath Tagore who was the principal artist and creator of Indian Society of Oriental Art. He was also the first major exponent of Swadeshi values in Indian art, thereby founding the influential Bengal school of art, which led to the development of modern Indian painting. Along with the invocation of Shakti, the inauguration of the school on that particular day was also the first flicker of the lamp lit in the encircling gloom in Bengal at that time. The concept and theories of women empowerment as we understand today had not yet come into vogue. Whatever Sister Nivedita and her associates did, came directly from the heart, inspired by an ideal to serve humanity.
A Devoted Missionary
A missionary to the core, a prolific writer and mesmerising orator, Nivedita went from one house to another, requesting fathers to send their daughters to school. The pitiable condition of the Indian women pained her as she wanted every woman to have a voice of her own. Every woman, empowered by the divine grace of Shakti within herself, was to come forward and serve the society and the nation. It was never too late to start, she opined. There were thus many widows and adult women among her students. Along with the general curriculum, girls were trained in sewing, nursing and the elementary rules of hygiene in the school. In her services to those affected by the Plague epidemic in 1899, in her unfailing faith and conviction in the greatness of Indian culture and civilisation, in her support and inspiration to the nationalist movement, Nivedita implemented the call of her guru (Swami Vivekananda) to “Arise! Awake!” Most of all, in the thirteen years that Sister Nivedita spent in Kolkata, she wanted women to awake from the slumber of inactivity and participate in every phase of social and national life. For this, they primarily needed to be equipped with education. Sister Nivedita was thus the forerunner in implementing the discourses of women empowerment, even much before the theory came into vogue. In the course of the journey of the century after her, we have come to know about the theories and the possible ways they can be put into practice. We are also aware of the tremendous impediments in the process of women empowerment across the world. This has made Sister Nivedita all the more relevant in our lives, in the lives and lived realities of Indian women.
Satiating Experience
The tremendous potential with which she carried on the work of empowering women has today reached every corner of the country. In continuation of her ideal and commitment to empowerment, the Bhagini Nivedita Sardhasatabarsha Udjapan Samiti (Committee for the Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Sister Nivedita) has taken up a year-long programme. The committee has been jointly constituted with the women members of the Kolkata unit of Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari Kolkata Nivedita Shakti, Sanskar Bharati and Vivekananda Vijnan Mission. The concluding ceremony of “Bhagini Nivedita: Indian Icon of Women Empowerment,” was recently held at the Sri Ramkrishna Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata. On this occasion the committee organised district level competitions on recitation, quiz and painting in twenty places across the State of West Bengal. It was a very satiating experience to watch the auditorium thriving with the liveliness of the young girls, the enthusiasm and eagerness of their teachers and their guardians. This was the empowerment that Nivedita had envisioned for posterity. In a very colourful yet somber programme in the packed auditorium of the Institute, Prabrajika Nirbhikprana Mataji of the Ramakrishna Sarada Mission and Smt Sujata Nayek of the Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari inspired the students of new generation with the ideals, life and works of Sister Nivedita. The committee felicitated swimmers Sayani Das and Teherana Nasreen, both English Channel winners. Sayani Das spoke in details about the hardships she had encountered and shared the story of her success amidst great applause from the audience. The achievements of the Indian swimmers greatly motivated the younger generation. Danseuse and Professor of Rabindra Bharati University, Amita Dutt and Sunanda Mukherjee, former Chairperson, State Women’s Commission, West Bengal, also graced the occasion. It was an afternoon in which the city of Nivedita’s activities, recalled her services with gratitude and reaffirmed its conviction in carrying it to the future. The event hosted by the committee was indeed a befitting tribute to Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India.
Sister Nivedita: An Irish lady Monk who became Indian Freedom Fighter
-“…..it was Nivedita who captured the fire of patriotism set alight by Vivekananda. She not only caught that flame, she also scattered the sparks of Indian patriotism and nationalism far and wide, across the length and breadth of India. Wherever Nivedita went, in any city or province of India, her fiery speeches and heroic calls to the Indian people spread the message of Swamiji, his ideals, his patriotism. Side by side, she spread the ideals, the culture, the glory of India, too. To speak frankly, we got to know Swami Vivekananda better through coming in contact with Sister Nivedita. I was with Swamiji for a very short time. But I have been with Nivedita for a much longer period. Through Nivedita, we got to know Swamiji better and through her India also better. …What I feel about Nivedita is – Sister Nivedita played two important roles in spreading the message and deeds of Vivekananda – one was the role of Mahadeva, the other, that of Bhagiratha. She absorbed the terrific force and power of Vivekananda in her own person, and at the same time she carried the mighty current of that force and directed it along proper channels like Bhagiratha.”
– Freedom fighter, Shri Hemachandra Ghosh (in “I am India” by Prof Kapila Chatterjee)
When Swami Vivekananda visited the West, he had nothing except the great treasures of Hindu wisdom. His speech at World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893, led to many new disciples, friends, money and recognition to spread the march of Hindu culture, glory and ideals world-wide along with the awakening of heroism, nationalism and patriotism among common people of India.
On cordial invitation from Mr. E. T. Sturdy, and Miss Henrietta Miiller whom he had met in America, he visited England. He succeeded in making a deep and lasting impression upon those whom he met. Among these was Miss Margaret Noble, who later on was known as Sister Nivedita. She met him first in November, 1895.His magnetic spiritual lectures aroused Margaret’s dormant religious aspirations and desire to serve humanity under his guidance. Nivedita was an inquisitive and argumentative kind of lady and filled with intense desire to educate people, serve humanity and fulfill her spiritual quest.
Swami Vivekananda’s lectures and personality made her deeply convinced about the wisdom of Vedanta and Bharatiya culture. She expressed her intention to join his mission. Swami Vivekananda, frankly put forward all possible difficulties if she joins his mission but he simultaneously highlighted her strengths also. In his reply to letter from her on July 1897 he wrote:
“Let me tell you frankly that I am now convinced that you have a great future in the work for India. What was wanted was not a man, but a woman; a real lioness, to work for the Indians, women specially.
”India cannot yet produce great women, she must borrow them from other nations. Your education, sincerity, purity, immense love, determination and above all, the Celtic blood make you just the woman wanted.”
Margaret finally decided to dedicate herself at the feet of Swami Vivekananda and came to India in 1897. She was initiated into the order of brahmacharya by Swamiji on March 25, 1898 and conferred new monastic name ‘Nivedita’ which means ‘Dedicated’. The purpose behind adopting her to Swamiji’s mission was not merely to add just one more disciple but to transform her completely in to Indic tradition. She internalised the Vedantic vision and practiced Vedanta making contributions to all walks of life.
She was born on October 28, 1867 in Dungannon County Tyrone, Ireland to Mary Isabel Hamilton and Samuel Richmond Noble. Her grandfather, John Noble, father, Samuel Richmond and her maternal grandfather, Hamilton, were revolutionaries and prominent figures of Irish freedom struggle. Therefore, she carried the legacy of revolutionary ideas.
Swami Vivekananda toured Almora and Kashmir regions during May to October 1898, Sister Nivedita accompanied him. It was a lifetime learning experience for her to understand the vastness of India and to witness the plight of people under British rule in Bharat. This tour had a transformative impact on her mind. During this tour she observed that Maharaja of Kashmir wanted to donate a piece of land to her Guru to set up a Mutt and Sanskrit College but the British government refused to grant the permission for the same. This turned her into a revolutionary. She realized that Indians can’t lead a humane life without putting an end to British rule in India.
She started a school for girls in Baghbazar area for which the holy mother Sri Sarada Devi performed the opening ceremony on November 13, 1898.
Sister Nivedita organized a team of youths and engaged herself in relief operations, sanitation and scavenging during the epidemic of plague in Calcutta in March 1899.
To raise funds for her school Nivedita went to England and America in mid-1899 on a lecture tour. During her visit to Boston, she met the great Indian patriot, Bipin Chandra Pal.
She faced a lot of resistance from the British Imperialists and the Christian Missionaries. British Government blacklisted her name and censored her letters.
After the death of Swamiji on 4th July 1902 she went on a nationwide tour in response to the invitation of her disciples and admirers.
On Oct 20, 1902 in Baroda, she met Sri Aurobindo- the brain behind the nationalist movement in Bengal. Nivedita attracted thousands of young men and women during this tour.
She was among the five members of the political committee appointed by Aurobindo Ghosh to unite the small and scattered groups of rebels in to a single organization.
She used to organise sunday get-togethers of scientists, artists, journalists, nationalists and revolutionaries at her home and prominent among them was Barindra Ghosh, the younger brother of Aurobindo.
Nivedita condemned the appointment of the ‘University Commission’ to strangulate the national education system in 1902.
She spoke strongly in support of the resolution moved by the famous revolutionary, Anand Mohan Bose against British government’s decision to divide Bengal in 1905 in her public meetings.
She was a prolific writer and used to contribute articles for Prabuddha Bharat, Sandhya, Dawn and New India.
The plan for revolutionary newspaper “Yugantar” by Aurbindo, his brother Barindra Ghosh and Swami Vivekananda’s younger brother Bhupendra Nath Dutta was made at Nivedita’s house on March 12, 1906.
She was also inspiration behind ‘Bande Matram’ by Bipin Chandra Pal and Bala Bharath by Tirumalachari.
She ensured the uninterrupted publication of Yugantar when Bhupendra Nath Dutta was imprisoned and also helped in collection of funds for paying fine of Rs 10000/.
She helped revolutionaries at home but also abroad. She went to England in 1907 and started publishing the reports of meetings and interviews with British parliamentarians.
She helped number of revolutionaries like Bhupendra Nath Dutta, Tarak Dutta in exile and collected funds for uninterrupted publication of revolutionary journals from abroad and their distribution.
Sister Nivedita was a multifaceted extra-ordinary lady. Swami Ji’s rigorous effort of her transformation process transformed her to a patriot .She merged her identity with spirit of Bharatiyata.
She beautifully penned down her experiences in numerous literary works like ‘Master As I saw him, Kali the Mother, The Web of Indian life, Cradle tales of Hinduism, Footfalls of Indian history, Civic ideal and Indian nationality and Hints on national education in India etc. These works reflect her deeper journey in to glorious past of Hindu culture and ancinet knowledge and wisdom.
Sister Nivedita had become deeply involved in Bharat’s freedom struggle. When she came to know about sacrifice of Damodar Chapekar and his brothers, she decided to go and meet the mother of these heroes. On arriving at the Chapekars’ home, she observed that their heroes was above and beyond the any grief and regrets.
She realized that India was far ahead in terms of spirit of self-respect and self-realisation than she could imagine.
When she returned to India in 1909, she found that most of her fellow revolutionaries had been jailed. Aurobindo was pursued by the British too, so he went into exile. Thus, the responsibility of running two prominent revolutionary papers “Dharma” and “Karmayogin”, was shouldered by her.
She worked for the people of Bharat tirelessly and this affected her health adversely. When she realised she would not live, she donated all the money that she had got. On October 13, 1911, she took last breath and the dedicated daughter of Bharat Mata went to eternal sleep forever.
Her memorial inscription in Darjeeling rightly describes her life and work: “Here Reposes Sister Nivedita Who Gave Her All to India.”
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