Vivekananda’s Irish disciple, Sister Nivedita.

(A lecture done by Dipesh Chakrabarty)

The lecture done by Dipesh Chakrabarty initially mentions the world history’s impact
on Vivekananda’s life and the national life of India. The major significance of the
lecture focuses around an Irish born lady who has decided to follow swami
Vivekananda and his perspective, while being a dedicated person towards the Indians.

Sister Nivedita was born in 28th October 1867 in Dungannon, in country Tyrone,
Ireland to Mary Isabel and Samuel Richmond Noble as Margeret Elizabeth Noble. Her
father who was a pastor taught that “service to mankind is the true service to God”.

In November 1895, she met swami Vivekananda who had come from America to visit
London and stayed there for three months. She came to Kolkata in 1898 as a disciple
of the swami and stayed on India beyond the death of swami 1902 true to her own
passing in 1911. Her name “Sister Nivedita” was given by Swami which means “the
dedicated one”. Through her publications in between years 1906 – 1910 under the
heading of “Master as I saw him” she says that,

“swami Vivekananda on both occasions of his visits to England in 1895,96 she

knew little or nothing about his personal life until she came to India.”

There are more than enough evidence to prove the cosmopolitanism through
Vivekananda’s three western disciples Joseph Mcleod, Sara Bull, and Sister Nivedita.
Sara Bull who was born in 1850 and died in 1911 was a daughter of lumber merchant
and a state senator in Madison where she met the famous Norwegian nationalist
violinist Wholly Bull, 40 years her senior and married him at twenty in 1870. She
financed many of the activities not only of the swami and his association in India but
even left 4000 $ to fund the Botanical researches of the Indian scientist Jagudish
Chandrabosh, in 1899 Sera Bull gave 15000 $ to sister Nivedita till the both passed
away in 1911. Her own history goes back to the history of “Theosophy movement” in
this country actually what drew her to india was reading the translation of “ The
Geetha”. Sera Bull was referred to as “Dheera matha” which means calm mother.

Sister Nivedita was truly used to missionary life of an unusual kind; understandably her
conversion to discipleship to an unknown Indian guru was not easy. She found the
swami’s philosophy and teachings powerful and attractive. But remained assailed by
her own desolation and self-questioning as she trips to the mountains in 1998. In fact
in 1901 during her 2nd arrival in Kolkata she talked about the root about the foggy
darkness that enveloped her soul for two years. Her French biographer Lizzel Remore
captured her internal struggle on the trip to the holy cave temple of Amaranath.

Vivekananda died from diabetes and other complications in 1902 and it was around
that time Nivedita decided that her main intention would not being the zero religion but
in helping to bring about what she called national awakening in India. For that reason
she made a formal separation between her public work and that of the Rama Krishna
mission that Vivekananda set up even though they remained the remind on good
terms. After Nivedita’s death Tagore declared his impression regarding her in the
introduction of her book “web of Indian life” as “our lives in India, they have many
deficiencies and many short comings either. But somehow most foreigners don’t get to
love us on the way as Nivedita did.”

Nivedita has done immense contribution in the areas like art and Indian art, developing
Indian national arts. Europeans set up art schools in India but believed that India has
no respected tradition of paintings and there for Indians need to be taught European
style of painting.

E B Havell (1861 – 1934) was the principle of Kolkata art college who came from
artists family said that “why can’t Indians look at the heritage of paintings in India”. He
contributed to develop the Indian arts in that way.

Raja Ravi Varma (1848 – 1906) who came from princely family emphasized the value
of Indian heritage in paintings.

Abanindranat Tagore who is the nephew of Rabindranat Tagore emerged as a painter

and he was taught by Havell about how to appreciate Mogal miniatures.

Nivedita paid from her own money for art schools to go to the Buddhist caves, Ajanta
and Ellora and to increase their inspiration for painting figures from those traditions.
And she encouraged those who were interested in painting and wrote reviews for
encourage them. for an example she wrote about the painting of “Bharat Matha” as,
“ here we have a picture which bids fare to prove the beginning of new age in Indian
art. The picture is an appeal in the Indian language to the Indian heart.”

Nandalal Bose who was a student of Abanindranat Tagore painted “salvation of

Ahalya” which carries a mythological story behind it and Nivedita herself appreciated
the masterpiece as “ one of the finest achievements of Bose” she love that painting
because it’s style has been copied from Buddhist paintings of the caves.

Art, science, politics were the major areas she covered during her life in India. Apart
from those things she was also important in the movement to produce histories to
Bengali literature. And she becomes very significant within the area of feminist
education in India. Because she encouraged girls to be educated in India where
feminist education was subaltern which is visible in her attempt to hold up the school
named “sister Nivedita girl’s school”.

Nivedita had very profound and deep relationship with “Gopaler - ma” which means
“mother of Gopal”. In real life she was a child widow whose marriage has never being
consummated. She married at age nine; never saw her husband after her wedding
night and he died when she was fourteen. She lived with her brother who was a priest
at Rama Krishna temple and was poor. She started her duty at 2 a.m. in the morning
and carried out many religious rituals and cooked food and she closed her day at 12
mid night. She was used to have visions of child god Gopal. When it comes to the
relationship between Nivedita and Gopaler – ma it is somewhat complex and
unimaginable when we compare the situation into the modern society. As Gopaler –
ma fall in sick on 10th November 1903 Nivedita took her into her house in Bugbasar
along with Kusum Devi who attended for her physical needs. Money to pay for Gopaler
– ma’s nurse was coming from Sera Bull. There were some special diary notes of
Nivedita regarding Gopaler – ma as follows,

 December 17th -“the last time I was prevented by writing by the advent of
Gopaler ma who is being now here for a week, can you imagine how grand I
feel…Saradananda thinks that she’ll stay with us for life. Our dear little
grandmother.

 February 24th – holy mother is here Gopaler ma is another of the wonder souls

 August 16th 1904 – Gopaler ma now seems to losing her memory and getting
quite childish. But I am so glad that we have her here.

 July 1st 1905 – did you know that Gopaler ma is here with us? She is very dear
but she is very troublesome. But to me it is perpetual peace and joy to have her
with us. She came to us about December last year. The holy mother is also in
the immediate neighborhood – Sharda Devi

 March 8th 1906 – I could not help feeling full of that 1st meeting with you.
Remember when Gopaler ma took us by the hand and introduced us and do
you remember that Gopaler ma lives with us in this very house. Finally came
the news of death of Gopaler ma.

 June 29, 1906 – Gopaler ma is dying hourly in her room back of the house
  June 12th 1906 – Gopaler ma is dead. She died at dawn last Sunday which was
8th July 1906 beside the Ganges. So holy and peaceful.
In the book “the web of Indian life” Nivedita describes “Gopaler ma’s death as
follows in a very touching manner,

“All night long we had been watching the law heart beating of the dying the day and
the night already. It was not perhaps the entirely unconscious which she lay and on
that last morning when Brahmin came and chanted about her shloka from
Upanishads, …. The low lapping of the Ganges against the fast of the bathing
stares and the morning wispers of the rain winds and once was it mid night later…”

At the death of Gopaler ma, Nivedita says that she is the mother of the Christ child
but not that Gopaler ma. There by equating Krishna with Christ and seeing Gopaler
ma’s visit to her place as an reenactment of a seen of Merry’s visit with her cousin
Elizebeth, the mother of the john, the baptized.

Thus by considering all the above mentioned facts it clearly proves that the
contribution done by Sister Nivedita towards the Indian community which
emphasizes the cosmopolitanism as well.

13/SL/135

EA 3848