Sunday 31 December 2017

Sister Nivedita’s Interactions with Devotees and Prominent Westerners - 3


यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

At the Sister Nivedita Memorial Meeting at Calcutta on 23 March 1912, Blair added: "We are gathered to do honour to the memory of one of the noblest women God ever made a woman who gave up a most precious life in India and for India—a woman who by her record of courage, self-sacrifice and love, no less than by her radiant personality and her intellectual power, broke down for us the barriers of time and space, and took us back to the spacious days of the Mahabharata and Ramayana.... Her great book The Web of Indian Life represents the highest point yet reached by any Western writer in the study and interpretation of the East. If there were time one might go on for hours expatiating upon the wondrous diversity of her gifts—her eloquence, the acuteness of her perceptions, the firmness of her intellectual grasp, the dazzling purity of her mind, the whole-souled devotion which she was ever ready to pour out upon the cause and the friends she had made her own."

Nivedita contributed to the London based Review of Reviews founded and edited by William T Stead. He became a personal friend and invited her to become his Indian correspondent in London. Because of her commitment to India she could not accept his offer. He sent a letter to her on 1st January 1903 and she to him on 20 September 1904. William T Stead (1849–1912) who died on the Titanic was one of the most influential journalists of his day. He supported world peace, child welfare, social reform legislation, and was an ardent spiritualist.

As a patriot Nivedita actively supported the Indian nationalist movement in many ways, such as going on a lecture tour throughout India to rouse the national consciousness of the people. She established friendship with Indian political and social leaders like Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, G K Gokhale, and others; and through her writings she authored a number of books that are still well read.While in India she made some contact with prominent Westerners including Annie Besant around the beginning of 1906. She held a cordial relationship with Annie Besant greatly approving of her support for the Indian political and social cause, but had little if any interest in Theosophy. n an 11 April 1906 letter to Josephine MacLeod, Nivedita made her famous prophecy, 'You see, when we who understood Swamiji and remembered him are dead, there will come a long period of obscurity and silence, for the work that He did. It will seem to be forgotten, until, suddenly, in 150 or 200 years,
it will be found to have transformed the West.

During the winter of 1907, Swami Abhedananda sent a letter to William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) mentioning among other things, 'Our friend Sister Nivedita spoke to me about your visit to her girls' school in Calcutta.' She had 'a particularly joyous breakfast' with Bryan and his wife at the Bagh Bazaar. Bryan a three-time United States Presidential candidate and Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, in 1899 wrote an article criticizing 'British Rule in India.' In 1906, he decided to go to India and check things out for himself. At Allahabad he made an earnest appeal for free education for all classes of Indians. Upon his return to the United States, Bryan published the pamphlet 'British Rule in India' (1906) favoring Indian independence (ibid.).

Back to the West 1907–09

On 6 September 1907, Nivedita returned to England where she would meet with her old friends, and make new contacts among the intellectual class. The English cleric, Thomas Kelly Cheyne (1841–1915) was the Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Christian Scripture at Oxford University between 1885 and 1908. Being the initiator of the 'higher criticism' of the Bible theological movement in England, he published over twenty books dealing with his interpretation of the Biblical Old Testament. T K Cheyne and J Sutherland Black edited the esteemed four volume, 2800-plus-page Encyclopaedia Biblica (1899–1903). Sister Nivedita sent twenty-two letters to her good friend T K Cheyne, from 25 November 1907 up until the time of her passing away in 1911. During her visit to England in 1908 and in 1911, she conversed with Cheyne and her other friends. He later wrote of her, 'The beautiful character of Sister Nivedita is well known to her friends, but needs to be brought before outsiders, especially those of the younger generation. She was like a star, if we should not rather say, like a sun, and it would be sad if this sun should altogether set.' In January 1911, in the Hibbert Journal, T K Cheyne came out with a review of Nivedita's work on Vivekananda, The Master as I Saw Him (1910). This article might have been the first attempt by a Western scholar to interpret and explain the teachings of Vivekananda.

In the Modern Review, Calcutta (February 1912) T. K. Cheyne disclosed : It was The Web of Indian Life which brought us spiritually together. The book fascinated me. I had never before seen India described from the inside. I wrote to her as warmly as I felt, at the same time drawing her attention to the criticisms which some dryasdust professor had brought against her views of history. She replied in glowing terms, at the same time answering my inquiry as to the best sources of information for Hindu religion in its noblest form. She pointed me to the Bhagavad Gita and the lectures of the Swami Vivekananda. This produced a revolution in my view of the capacity of Hindu religion for adapting itself progressively to the spiritual needs of Indians, and for contributing elements of enormous value to the purification, enrichment, and reinterpretation of Christianity ... Sister Nivedita was well aware that I looked for help to the Aryan East, and especially to her and her Master, and this may have been the chief reason why she paid me in the dazzling coin of affection, reverence, and gratitude for the sympathy which I delighted to express to her."

During this time Nivedita made the acquaintance of Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton (1845–1915), who had been the Chief Commissioner of Assam (1896–1902) and a friend of Vivekananda. He served as President of the Indian National Congress (1904) since he favoured Indian Home Rule, and later was a Liberal party member of the British Parliament (1906–10). Her friends in England also included: V H Rutherford later the author of Commonwealth or Empire? (1917) and Modern India (1927); Kier Hardie (1856–1915) a Scottish socialist, the first Labour member of the British Parliament, and a campaigner for Self-Rule for India; Swift MacNeill (1849–1926), an Irish Protestant Nationalist who served in the House of Commons (1887–1918) and a Professor of Constitutional and Criminal Law at the King's Inns, Dublin, Ireland; and a young William Redmond (1886–1932) an Irish nationalist politician who was a member of the House of Commons.

Nivedita also conversed with an old friend Henry Nevinson (1856–1941). In the 1880s, Nevinson became a socialist and befriended Peter Kropotkin and Edward Carpenter. He was a British newspaper war correspondent during the Greco-Turkish War (1897), Spanish-American War (1898), Second Boer War (1899–1902), Russian revolution (1905), and World War I being wounded at Gallipoli. A campaigning journalist and political commentator he uncovered and exposed the practice of extremely harsh slavery by Europeans in Angola, West Africa (1904–05). He was a cofounder of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage (1907). During 1907 Nevinson spent four months traveling throughout India to 'discover the causes of the present discontent and to report, without prejudice, the opinion of leading Indians as well as officials' following the Partition of Bengal in 1905. He was impressed by Tilak, Gokhale, and R Tagore; and described Sri Aurobindo in glowing terms.

Henry Nevinson wrote of Nivedita: "There was, indeed, something flame-like about her, and not only her language but her whole vital personality often reminded me of fire. ...But of all nobly sympathetic natures she was among the finest. She identified herself with the Indians among whom she lived as barely half a dozen men or women from these islands have done before. I do not mean merely by her adoption of Hindu symbolism for thought, nor by her purified form of Hindu worship. ... But her readiness to accept and interpret what was clearest and highest in Hindu thought, her capacity not merely for understanding Indian life, but for discovering and so intensifying the ideal in its customs, and the indignant revolt kindled in her
by the insolence, degradation, and maiming restriction to which every subject race is necessarily exposed–from such imaginative sympathy, I think, arose the extraordinary power which she exercised over the more thoughtful and active of the Indian patriots around her. ... Her greatest book, The Web of Indian Life, reveals the ideal of the Indian spirit with great beauty, and in it there is a passage which seems to illustrate the contrast between the ordinary Anglo-Indian woman's aspect of India and her own."

Sister Nivedita decided to return to the US arriving in Boston on 5 October 1908. She took up residence with Sara Bull and met old acquaintances like Sarah Farmer, Emma Thursby, and Madam Calve. That year Frank J Alexander (d. 1917) had an interview with Sister Nivedita in 1908, at Grand Central Station in New York City. They conversed for about three quarters of an hour and Frank's reaction was: 'During my journalistic experience of five or six years, during which time I have interviewed all types of people from United States Senators to interesting hodcarriers and from famous artists to turbulent leaders of labour, I have never met a personality which impressed me in less than an hour's time with being possessed of such a synthetic mind and cyclonic personal energy.' Inspired by the writing of Vivekananda, Alexander set sail for India and arrived at the Belur Math in 1911. He offered an invaluable service in bringing out the four-volume, The Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples (1912–18), but since it was a joint venture the extent of his contribution is not known. Later editions of this work proved to be an invaluable source for Marie Louise Burke and others as a foundation for their historical research. In addition, between 1911 and 1913, Frank authored at least twenty-seven articles for the Prabuddha Bharata.

Reverend Jabez Sunderland (1842–1936) became acquainted with Sister Nivedita during her visit to the United States. He came to India in 1895–96 and again in 1913–14, being the first American to speak at a meeting of the Indian National Congress in Poona. For decades Sun derland was the leading American spokesman supporting the freedom of India. His 529-page India in Bondage, Her Right to Freedom and a Place among Nations (1928), was referred to by the patriots as the 'Bible of Indian Struggle for Freedom.

Nivedita left America for England in January 1909 to be with her mother during her last days.

Nivedita's Final Two Years 1909–11

Nivedita returned to India reaching Bombay on 16 July 1909. Henry Nevinson presented Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) with a letter of introduction for Nivedita when he came to Calcutta in November 1909. After meeting her on more than one occasion, he was impressed with her intelligence and personality when she explained to him about Indian ideals and philosophy.At a later date MacDonald was Great Britain's first Labor Party Prime Minister (1929–35).

Lady Minto was the wife of the Earl of Minto (1845–1914), the Viceroy and Governor-General of India (1905–10). On 2 March 1910, the day before Lady Minto held a discussion with Swami Shivananda at the Belur Math, she paid a visit to Sister Nivedita and her girls' school. Lady Minto commented, 'I told her I was the Viceroy's wife, which surprised her greatly. She has a charming face, with a very intelligent expression, and we made friends.' A few days later, at Nivedita's request, Lady Minto accompanied her to the Dakshineswar Temple, where Sri Ramakrishna had lived for many years. She toured the grounds and was taken to the Master's bedroom. Before leaving Lady Minto advised Nivedita to continue writing, and invited her to tea privately at the Government House on 18 March. The following year after Nivedita's sudden passing away, Lady Minto wrote a letter of consolation to Sister Christine, saying:"It is with very real regret that I read in the news papers of the sad loss that has been sustained in the death of Sister Nivedita. I cannot resist sending you a few lines of very deep sympathy, and not only for yourself but for all the Indian community for whom she was working. Sister Nivedita had a wonderful personality, and as I look back to the few meetings I had with her with pleasure, and with real admiration for her enthusiasm and single-minded desire to assist others. The world is the poorer for her loss, and for you her constant companion and helper the
blank she leaves must be irreparable."

Sara Bull's health was failing and she requested Nivedita to be at her bedside. So Nivedita returned to America reaching Cambridge in Boston on 15 November 1910. Sara passed away on 18 January 1911 and in her will she bequeath thirty-thousand dollars, equivalent to $770,000 in 2015, to Sister Nivedita.

The daughter of the famous American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82), Miss Alice Mary Longfellow (1850–1928) corresponded with Nivedita. They first met in 1900 at the Free Religious Association meetings in Boston where Nivedita delivered a lecture. After Sara Bull's passing in January 1911, Nivedita went to stay with Alice Longfellow in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When Nivedita passed away, she contributed a eulogy to the Boston Evening Transcript of 29 June 1911 praising her. She wrote in part: 'Her bright, intelligent face, her earnest manner and attractive personality, enhanced by the simple white habit of her order, made a strong impression on the audience.' In a 1911 letter written to Josephine MacLeod, Miss
Longfellow indicated, 'I love to think of Margot's [Nivedita's] alert, alive face, and the way she grappled with conversation. It made all the rest of us seem only half alive—and now she must be more alive than then' (2.1254). Alice was one of the founders of Radcliffe College, where on May 8, 1894 Vivekananda spoke on 'Hinduism.' At Radcliffe, she held the position of manager, treasurer, and a member of the Executive Committee.

On 7 April 1911, Nivedita was back in India and soon spoke to Holy Mother. In the fall, Nivedita had an attack of blood dysentery and passed away on 13th October. At the end, Nivedita chanted from the Upanishads, 'Lead us from the unreal to the Real. Lead us from darkness to light. Lead us from death to Immortality,' and breathed her last.

Nivedita's funeral procession was the largest that Darjeeling ever witnessed. Her cremation ceremony was attended by an Anglo-Indian lady, Miss Mary Henrietta Pigot (b. 1837). She had previously witnessed Sri Ramakrishna in samadhi, while on a steam launch up the river to Dakshineswar on 23 February 1882. In 1870, Miss Pigot became the lady Superintendent of the Female Mission of the Scottish Ladies' Association in Calcutta. It was under the control of the Foreign Mission of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, with headquarters in Edinburgh. After 1884, she was the headmistress of Victoria College, a girls' school.

(Prabuddha Bharata January 2017)




 
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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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Saturday 30 December 2017

Sister Nivedita’s Interactions with Devotees and Prominent Westerners - 2


यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

Swamiji and Geddes had formerly met in Chicago. They became well acquainted in August 1900, and each morning Swamiji would walk and converse with Geddes on their way to the Paris Exposition. In September, they came together again at a party thrown by the Leggett's in Paris. According to Geddes' biographer Philip Boardman, as a result of his encounter with Swamiji, 'The eastern discipline of body and mind made such a lasting impression on both Anna [Geddes' wife] and Patrick that they later handed on to their young children the simple Raja Yoga exercises for control of the inner nature.' These experiences deepened Geddes' interest in the land and soul of India. Among other things, Geddes wrote a Preface to the French translation of Swamiji's Raja Yoga in 1910. In 1914, he undertook a diagnosis-and-treatment survey of fifty Indian urban areas. He concluded that the traditional strategy of British planners in slum clearance disrupted community neighborhood life and destroyed indigenous customs. The May 1917 issue of the Prabuddha Bharata praised Geddes' efforts stating, 'He has distinguished himself not only by his expert knowledge in town-planning, but also by his profound learning in all subjects connected with the betterment of human life on earth, and his selfless devotion to that cause.'20 He was the first Professor of Sociology and Civics at the University of Bombay (1919–24). In cooperation with his friend Rabindranath Tagore, he worked on plans for an international university in India. Geddes authored The Life and Work of Sir Jagadis C. Bose (1920), the famous physicist, and also made contact with Mahatma Gandhi and Annie Besant.

Swamiji left for Paris in August 1900, where he spoke at the Paris Congress of the History of Religions. He was introduced to the Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921), as was Sister Nivedita. She held long discussions with him at that time and again in London in 1908. Nivedita liked his emphasis on peaceful methods to bring about political-social change and opposition to centralised government. After escaping from Russia for his opposition to the czarist government, Kropotkin was expelled from Switzerland, jailed in France, and finally settled in England in 1886.

Jamsetji Tata (1839–1904) offered a gift of 200,000 pound sterling to promote higher education in India desiring to obtain advice on the subject from learned people. So Nivedita mailed out a 'statement of opinion' that she wanted to be signed, stating among other things that the project would be 'guided by the best educated Natives as distinguished from European opinion.' One respondent was the famous Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James (1842–1910). He signed her statement and on 3 January 1901, dispatched a letter to Nivedita, as Miss Noble, stating on this issue he favored Native education over the Anglo-Saxon. He also referred to her and Mrs Bull, implying that he was with them in Paris back in August 1900. In 1901, Nivedita and Sara Bull again met William James, this time on a train from London to Edinburgh. In a letter of 15 May, James described Sister Nivedita as possessing 'an extraordinary fine character and mind,' to be 'a most deliberate and balanced person,' 'who has Hinduized herself (converted by Vivekananda to his philosophy) and lives now for the Hindu people.

Nivedita in India 1902–07

Accompanied by Sara Bull and R C Dutt, Nivedita reached Madras on 3 February 1902. There attending a public celebration before a large audience she gave a forceful speech advocating that in social matters Indians should decide what kind of society they desire and not be under foreign domination, while praising the lofty character of Indian women. In order to properly instruct her students at Nivedita Girls' School, she learned the Bengali language. German born consecrated a Bishop in the Church of England at Haiti and the Dominican Republic (1939–42) and then at Nassau (1942–62).

In 1902, Nivedita first visited the Government School of Art, Calcutta, a group of Indian pupils under the direction of the British Principal Ernest Binfield Havell (1861–1934) from 1896 to 1905. They met again in England after she returned in 1907. The two held long discussions and she explained to Havell the basic principles of Indian ascetics and philosophy of art. Their goal along with Abanindranath Tagore and Ananda Coomaraswamy was to revitalize Indian art rather than copy Western methods, which later led to the foundation of the Bengal School of Art. Havell sought to propagate a truer picture in the West of Indian cultural heritage and to discourage young Indians from appreciating the immoral and uninspiring aspects of Western art. Havell authored thirteen books on Indian art and history. Nivedita became the art critic for the Calcutta based Modern Review from its beginning in 1907. In time, Sister Nivedita was introduced by the artist Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951) to Sir John Woodroffe (1865–1936) at a party of the Art Society held at Justice Homewood's house. Woodroffe gave full support to Abanindranath's School of Art. Woodroffe authored fortyfive articles in the Prabuddha Bharata and Vedanta Kesari (1915–29), was the President of the Vivekananda Society of Calcutta (1917–18), initiated by Shivkali Bhattacharya, was the leading Western authority on Tantra and Kundalini yoga—sometimes writing under the pseudonym Arthur Avalon—served as the Chief Justice of Bengal's High Court (after 1915), and a Reader in Indian law at Oxford University (1923–30).

During the 1902–07 period, Samuel Kerkham Ratcliffe (1868–1958), a journalist and lecturer, was the assistant and then the acting editor of the Statesman, the foremost English newspaper in Calcutta. He edited the Sociological Review during the period 1910–17, and, in 1915, received appointment to be a Lecturer at the South Place Ethical Society in London, later writing a history of that organization. A prolific lecturer in India and England, he favored the cause of Indian self-government. When he lived in Calcutta, Ratcliffe held great admiration for the work Sister Nivedita was doing, and they met again in England. From her he gained a far better understanding of the Indian culture and psyche. Nivedita wrote a number of letters to him and his wife from 25 September 1902 down to the time of her passing. In the Sociological Review of 1913, he composed a two-page tribute of Swami Vivekananda (553–4).

Ratcliffe wrote a twenty-four page 'In Memoriam' concerning Nivedita found in the Preface of Studies From an Eastern Home (1913) where he stated in part: "She was then entirely accepted by her Hindu neighbours. All their doors were open to her. In the bazaars and lanes and by the riverside every-body knew her, and she would be saluted as she passed with an affectionate reverence which was beautiful and touching to see. ... Her house was a wonderful rendezvous. Not often did one meet a Western visitor, save at those times when an English or American friend would be making a stay in Calcutta; but nowhere else, so far as my experience went, was there an opportunity of making acquaintance with so many interesting types of the Indian world. There would come members of Council and leaders in the public affairs of Bengal; Indian artists, men of letters, men of science; orators, teachers, journalists, students; frequently a travelled member of the Order of Ramakrishna, occasionally a wandering scholar, not seldom a public man or leader of religion from a far province. The experience was beyond expression delightful, and its influence, you knew, was to be felt along many lines. ..."

I heard her speak: to groups of students, or in the Calcutta Town Hall before a great audience, on her one absorbing theme–the religion of Nationalism; to English gatherings in hall or church or drawing-room. And I have thought, and still think, that her gift of speech was something which, when fully exercised, I have never known surpassed—so fine and sure was it in form, so deeply impassioned, of such flashing and undaunted sincerity. ... Her dominant notes were clarity and sincerity and an incomparable vitality. She was, of all the men and women one has known, the most vividly alive. ... At all times she toiled with an absolute concentration; her inner life was intense, austere, and deeply controlled. Yet never was anyone more wholly and exquisitely human, more lovely and spontaneous in the sharing of daily services and joys. ...

And those to whom she gave the ennobling gift of her friendship knew her as the most perfect of comrades, while they hold the memory of that gift as this world's highest benediction. They think of her years of sustained and intense endeavour, of her open-eyed and impassioned search for truth, of the courage that never quailed, the noble compassionate heart; they think of her tending the victims of famine and plague, or ministering day by day among the humble folk with whom her lot was cast: putting heart into the helpless and defeated, showing to the young and perplexed the star of a glowing faith and purpose, royally spending all the powers of a rich intelligence and an overflowing humanity for all who called upon her in their need. And some among them count it an honour beyond all price that they were permitted to share, in however imperfect a measure, the mind and confidence of this radiant child of God.

Scottish born Andrew James Fraser Blair (1872–1935) is listed as the editor of the Englishman newspaper (1898–1906), then the editor and managing director of The Empire Commerce and The Empire Gazette, and then the assistant editor of the Statesman, all published in Calcutta. As a book writer he authored three novels under the pen name Hamish Blair. He first came face to face with Nivedita on Christmas day 1902 in Calcutta as a guest of Mr and Mrs Ratcliffe. A couple of years later he heard her lecture at the Town Hall of Calcutta. After her passing Blair described Nivedita in the Empire: "A vehement champion of the East in all its aspects against the West ... a tall, robust woman in the very prime of life. Her face in repose was almost plain. The cheek bones were high and the jaws were square. The face at the first glance expressed energy and determination, but you would hardly have looked at it again but for the forehead and the eyes. The eyes were a calm, deepblue, and literally lit up the whole countenance. The forehead was broad rather than high, and was surmounted by a semi-Indian Sari, fastened to the abundant brown hair. In animation the face and its expression were transfigured, in sympathy with the rich, musical voice. ... To be admitted to her friendship was to establish a claim upon an inexhaustible gold mine. She gave herself without reserve. She lived for her friends and her work. For them she would pour out all her wondrous eloquence, and her vast and curious knowledge, she would travel any distance and would incur any labour and anxiety. Whatever she did, she did with all her might, and she never did anything for herself. ... No kinder-hearted woman ever breathed. Her influence over Young Bengal was greater than most people have ever suspected. ... To those who loved her it is difficult to realise that this vivid, brave, and gifted personality has vanished from our sphere."

(Prabuddha Bharata January 2017)


To be Continue


 
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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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Friday 29 December 2017

Sister Nivedita’s Interactions with Devotees and Prominent Westerners - 1


यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

Margaret noble, the future Sister Nivedita was born in Northern Ireland. As a young journalist and educationist, she first heard Swami Vivekananda speak at the residence of Lady Isabel Margesson on 10 November 1895 in London. Margesson's young son David (1890–1965) whom Swamiji blessed later became Winston Churchill's Secretary of State for War (1940–2). Her grand-son Francis (Frank) Margesson sold Ridgely Manor in New York State in the late 1990s, to a non-profit religious organisation affiliated with the Vedanta Society of Southern California. Nivedita later described the event this way: 'A majestic personage, clad in saffron gown and wearing a red-waist band, sat there on the floor, cross-legged. As he spoke to the company he recited Sanskrit verses in his deep, sonorous voice. His serene face, his dignified bearing and his divine voice cast a spell upon the listeners, who felt electrified by his frequent utterances of the name of "Shiva, Shiva!"' (259).


Thereafter she attended many of Swamiji's public lectures and talks in England during 1895–6 and 1899. On 12 May 1896, Sister Nivedita urged her two friends in their mid-forties, Eric Hammond and his wife Nell Hammond, to attend one of Swamiji's classes in London. Eric worked as a journalist and poet in Wimbledon, England. The Hammonds became devoted admirers of Vivekananda, attending many of his discussions, including Abhedananda's first speech in the West in October 1896. Nell Hammond received ten letters from Nivedita during 1898–1902. Eric Hammond kept up his interest in Vedanta by publishing in the Brahmavadin, contributing over thirty articles in the Prabuddha Bharata and Vedanta Kesari between 1902 and 1938. In these articles he narrated stories about Swamiji and Nivedita, and composed poems and hymns. Concerning Sister Nivedita's attitude towards Swamiji, in 1927 Hammond recalled, 'Everywhere she went she hailed him as the Prophet of the age. ... she spoke of him and about him unceasingly. ... There is no one like him, no one to equal him, no one at all!'

In a casual conversation Swamiji turned to her and said, 'I have plans for the women of my own country in which you, I think, could be of great help to me.' She revealed, 'I knew that I had heard a call which would change my life, what these plans were, I did not know' (ibid.). Nivedita recorded some of Swamiji's teachings given in London during 1895–6, which appear in the first two chapters of her book, The Master as I Saw Him.

Swamiji returned to India in January 1897. Nivedita remained active aiding Swami Abhedananda in his work in London. Learning of her sincerity, Swamiji sent eight encouraging letters to Nivedita in 1897 with inspiring statements like, '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.'

Sister Nivedita in India 1898–99

After much deliberation, she sailed to India and arrived in Calcutta on 28 January 1898 with Swamiji waiting at the dock to receive her. On 17 March 1898, Sister Nivedita, Sara Bull—Dhira Mata, and Josephine MacLeod—Tantine—first met Holy Mother (1853–1920) in Calcutta, and they ate a meal together. Speaking in Bengali, Holy Mother greeted each of them affectionately as 'my daughter.' In a letter of 22 May 1898 to Mrs Nell Hammond in London, Nivedita described the meeting: 'She has always been terribly orthodox, but all this melted away the instant she saw the first two Westerns—Mrs. Bull and Miss MacLeod, and she tasted food with them! Fruit is always presented to us  immediately, and this was naturally offered to her, and she to the surprise of everyone accepted. This gave us all a dignity and made my future work possible in a way nothing else could possibly have done.'  Nivedita maintained a life-long friendship with them, writing a large number of letters to Josephine and a fair number to Sara down to 1911.

Holy Mother wrote a letter to Nivedita dated 13 May 1900. It was in Bengali and translated into English by Swami Saradananda. The first paragraph read :  "May this letter carry all blessings! My dear love to you, Baby Daughter Nivedita! I am so glad to learn that you have prayed to the Lord for
my eternal peace. You are a manifestation of the ever-blissful Mother. I look at your photograph
which is with me, every now and then. And it seems as if you are present with me. I long for the day and the year when you shall return. May the prayers you have uttered for me from the heart of your pure virgin soul be answered! I am well and happy. I always pray to the Lord to help you in your efforts, and keep you strong and happy. I pray too for your quick return. May He fulfil your desires about the women's home in India, and may the would-be home fulfil its mission in teaching true dharma to all (1.412)"

The former Margaret Noble received initiation into brahmacharya from Swamiji on 25 March 1898. She received the new name of Sister Nivedita, which means 'the dedicated one.

On 11 May, she was part of a party headed by Swamiji that travelled from Howrah station to Almora in Northern India. It included four Western women—Nivedita, Sara Bull, Josephine MacLeod, and Marion Patterson, the wife of the American Consul General appointed by US President William McKinley. The party left Almora for Kashmir on 11 June, returning to Calcutta on 11 October ending the five month long journey. Her book Notes on Some Wanderings with the Swami Vivekananda (1913) gives an insightful account of the Swamis' conversations during that time. The fifth chapter in The Master as I Saw Him (1910) adds some descriptions of the trip. In the former book Nivedita mentions that Swamiji spoke of Genghis Khan (1142–1227), the conqueror of Central Asia. 'Yes, Napoleon [1769–1821] was cast in the same mould. And another Alexander [the Great, 356–23 bce]. Only those three, or perhaps one soul manifesting itself in three different conquests!'9 Here Swamiji does not state, but only suggests the possibility of reincarnation in the case of these three military leaders. Both Alexander and Napoleon desired to conquer India, invading from the West side.
Alexander's armies proceeded East beyond the Indus into the Punjab, but then his war-weary army revolted when they approached the Ganges River and that brought an end to the venture. During Napoleon's 1798 campaign in Egypt, he dreamt of an Indian conquest but things did not go well. In 1800, Napoleon signed a military and political alliance with the Russian Czar Paul I for the express purpose of conquering India with a joint army. The assassination of Paul in March 1801 brought an end to the venture.

In the same book Nivedita points out that when Swamiji was returning to India in January 1897, he was fifty miles from the Island of Crete and had a dream. An old and bearded man told him that at one time there was a Buddhist mission there which had an influence on early Christianity. The old man mentioned the word Therapeutae as being derived from sons of the Theras or Buddhist monks. He also pointed to a specific place on the Island stating 'The proofs are all here. Dig, and you will find' (1.188). Excavations have been performed on the small Island of Thera—35 square miles—68 miles north
of Crete, but nothing was identified as being Buddhistic. Crete is much larger at 3,219 square miles. A 3,500-year Minoan town was discovered in Eastern Crete, so a 2,000-year-old Buddhist mission is a possibility.

Nivedita became a great admirer of Holy Mother and some of her intimate disciples. On 13 November the auspicious day of the Kali Puja, the Mother performed the ceremony for the opening of Nivedita's new school in Calcutta and offered her blessings. In the future when Holy Mother came to Calcutta, she would visit Nivedita's school and she in return visited the Mother's house. Around that time, Sara Bull arranged to have three pictures taken of Holy Mother by the English photographer Harrington. She was reluctant, but Sara told her, 'I wish to take the photo to America and worship it.' One of the photos was of Mother and Nivedita.

Nivedita Returns to the West 1899–1901

On 20 June 1899, she accompanied Swamis Vivekananda and Turiyananda on a six-week voyage during his second visit to the West. When they stopped off at Colombo, Ceylon—Sri Lanka—they visited Marie Higgins' Buddhist Girls' School. Ms Higgins discussed with Nivedita about the possibility of her starting a Hindu girl's school in Colombo, which Nivedita seriously thought of establishing. In some significant ways she resembled Sister Nivedita. Marie Musaeus Higgins (Sudu Amma, 1855–1926), a German born Theosophist woman moved to the United States and then answered a magazine advertisement posted by Colonel Olcott (1832–1907). She became the Principle of the school that began with only twelve students from 1893 to 1926. By 1908, they were training teachers as headmistresses of Buddhist Sinhalese Girls' Schools. Higgins was held in high esteem due to her life-long devotion to the cause. She compiled books on Buddhism which were part of the curriculum. Musaeus College that bears her name is a private girls' school in Colombo, now with over 5,000 girls from ages three to eighteen managed by a Board of Trustees.

They arrived in London on 31st July and Nivedita remained in England for over a month. She reached New York City on 17 September 1899 and Ridgely Manor three days later accompanied by Josephine MacLeod. In November, Sister Nivedita temporarily resided in Hull-House in Chicago, of which Jane Addams (1860–1935) and Ellen Gates Starr (1859–1940) were the cofounders. Vivekananda and Nivedita lectured at Addams residence in Chicago, and consequently his photograph is presently located on the wall of the Hull-House. In a letter Nivedita mentions her association with Miss Jane Addams, who, she states, 'is doing a great deal for me.'13 In 1906, Nivedita sent a letter to Addams who in return mailed her response to Sara Bull. Concerning Miss Starr, Nivedita wrote to Mrs Belle Hale, 'I love her so much. She is full of the true something, and a new face is often as stimulating to Swami as to others' (ibid.). Ellen Starr, a physically small and somewhat frail woman, possessed eloquent manners and speech. For two decades she received newspaper attention for vigorously supporting labor picket lines. Jane Addams was a remarkable woman to say the least, in 1931 the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, rated one of the top fifty sociologists of all time, a member of the illustrious National Women's Hall of Fame, and The Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University, a supporter of fellow peacemaker Mahatma Gandhi who praised each other's benevolent activities, a personal friend of Rabindranath Tagore, and an officer in the India Society of America.

In April 1900, Nivedita stayed with Lydia Coonley Ward (1845–1924) in Chicago for nearly a week. She wished to donate onehundred dollars to support Nivedita's school in India. Remembering her association with Swamiji seven years earlier, Mrs Ward described him as 'the most interesting human being she ever met.'14 During her lifetime, Lydia Coonley Ward composed several popular and charming books of poetry, including a three-volume collection edition in 1921, and was President of the Chicago Women's Club (1895–6).

Nivedita's school of thirty girls lacked a Permanent Fund or steady source of income. In order to procure funds for her proposed Widows' and Girls' Home and school in India, Nivedita formed The Ramakrishna Guild of Help in America. Mrs Betty Leggett was the President. Its officers included Sara Bull, Josephine MacLeod, Sister Christine, Lewis Janes, and Colonel Thomas Higginson, and others. In August 1894, Colonel Thomas Higginson (1823–1911) the President of the Free Religious Association invited Swamiji to speak before the group. Among other things during the Civil War, Colonel Higginson commanded the First South Carolina Volunteers, the first regiment of former slaves organised by the Union Army. From his wartime experience, he wrote Army Life in a Black Regiment (1870), which is now a classic text in African-American history. Mrs Leggett donated a contribution a thousand dollars to get the project underway.

On the 18 May Swamiji wrote to Nivedita, 'Enclosed find the letter of introduction to Mrs. Huntington. She can, if she likes, make your school a fact with one stroke of her pen. May Mother make her do it!'17 Inspired by Swamiji, Arabella Huntington met Nivedita in New York City and presented her with a gift of five thousand dollars—equivalent to about $145,000 in 2014—for her Girls' School in India. The immensely wealthy Arabella Huntington (1851–1924) of San Francisco was married to Collis Huntington (1821–1900) the President of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Her daughter-in-law Helen Huntington (d. 1950) later a Broadway playwright, greatly admired Swamiji and wrote two glaring tributes to him in the Brahmava-din—May, November 1896. Arabella aided her second husband Henry Huntington (1850–1927) in creating the renowned Huntington library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, which, upon his death he deeded to the State of California. It is now a public center that draws many visitors each day.

On 6 July 1900, Swamiji's Will was witnessed in New York City. His estate was divided among five executors: Swamis Brahmananda and Saradananda, Margaret Noble—Sister Nivedita,—Sara Bull, and Francis Leggett. Due to legal complications the Will was not admitted for probate until early 1906. Sister Nivedita lived in Calcutta at that time and empowered Sara Bull to act on her behalf (524–5)

Nivedita listened to the Scottish sociologist, biologist, educator, and town-planner Sir Patrick Geddes (1854–1932) speak in New York in March 1900, and became interested in his unique ideas. She became his assistant in Paris, but the experiment did not work and she eventually quit. From mid-May to the end of June 1901 she lived with the Geddes family in Dundee, Scotland. At that time he invited her to speak at the Indian section of the Glasgow Exhibition. In November they met again and remained admirers and good friends throughout their life. From Geddes she learned some basic sociological concepts that Nivedita applied to her study of Indian society. In the introduction to her book The Web of Indian Life (1904) which she dedicated to Geddes, Nivedita acknowledged, 'In sending this book out into the world, I desire to record my thanks ... to Prof. Patrick Geddes, who by teaching me to understand a little of Europe, indirectly gave me a method by which to read my Indian experiences.' Geddes later wrote: I found no one who so rapidly and ardently seized upon the principle and delighted in every application of it as Sister Nivedita. Eager to master these evolutionary methods, and to apply them to her own studies, to Indian problems therefore above all, she settled above our home into an attic cell, which suited at once her love of wide and lofty outlooks and her ascetic care of material simplicity; and there she worked, for strenuous weeks. ... For my part, I must no less recognize how her keener vision and more sympathetic and spiritual insight carried her discernment of the rich and varied embroidery of the Indian web far beyond that simple texture of the underlying canvas, of the material conditions of life, which it was my privilege at the outset of our many conversations to help her to lay hold upon.

(Prabuddha Bharata January 2017)

To be Continue


 
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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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Thursday 28 December 2017

निवेदिता - एक समर्पित जीवन - 10

यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

मानवीय संवेदना - 2

1899 में प्लेग में महामारी का रूप धारण कर लिया था। पिछले सल प्लेग फैलने के लक्षणों का पता लगते ही आतंकित जनता बुरे परिणामों की शंका में शहर से बाहर भागने लगी थी। अतः इस साल गवर्नर सर जान बुडबर्न ने सबको आश्वासन दिया। कि किसी भी रोगी को जबरदस्ती उसके घर से हटाया नहीं जाएगा। उसी संकट के दौरान, चैत्र के महीने की कड़ी धूप में, एक घर के दरवाजे पर धूल से भरी कुर्सी पर एक यूरोपियन महिला बैठी है। यह भगिनी निवेदिता थी। वे वहाँ बागबाजार के झुग्गी-झोपड़ियों वाले अस्वच्छ इलाके की एक झोपड़ी में एक प्लेगपीड़ित रोगी की चिकित्सा व्यवस्था के बारे में पूछताछ कर रही थी, उन्होंने इस रोगी की जिम्मेदारी खुद लेने की इच्छा दर्शायी। लोगों ने उन्हें बताया कि रोगी की स्थिति बहुत ही गंभीर है। इस प्रकार की झुग्गी-झोपड़ियों के गरीब लोगों के बीच काम करना कितना अस्वास्थ्यकर होता है, इस बारे में उनको थोड़ी बहुत सूचनाएं भी दी  गई; किन्तु इस सबकी परवाह न करते हुए भगिनी निवेदिता उस झोपडी की जमीन पर, जहाँ भारी गन्दगी का साम्राज्य था, उस बच्चे को गोद में लिए बैठी थी। दिन-रत एक-एक करके बीत रहे थे, पर निवेदिता बिना थके उस रोगी की देखभाल में लगी रहीं। इन दिनों उनका खुद का घर पूर्णतः उपेक्षित सा पड़ा रहा। अपने हाथों से उस घर को निवेदिता ने  उस झोपडी को साफसुथरा कर दवाई छिड़ककर निर्जन्तुक किया। साथ ही एक छोटी सी सीढ़ी लेकर दीवारों पर चूने से पुताई का काम भी उन्होंने किया। बच्चे की हालत इतनी बिगड़ चुकी थी कि मृत्यु निश्चित ही थी| पर यह जानकर भी उन्होंने बच्चे की देखभाल में थोड़ी सी भी टालमटोली नहीं की। अन्त में मृत्यु स संघर्ष करते हुए इस बालक ने दो दिन पश्चात इस ममतामयी महिला की गोद में अपने प्राण त्याग दिए।

To Be continue



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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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Wednesday 27 December 2017

निवेदिता - एक समर्पित जीवन - 9

यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

मानवीय संवेदना - 1

कलकत्ता के बागबाजार मोहल्ले में 1898 में निवेदिता ने अपनी पाठशाला आरम्भ की। उस समय पडौस के गरीबों की ओर उनका दयँ गया। अमीरों की बड़ी कोठियां उन्होंने देखी थी; किन्तुनारियल के वृक्ष- समूहों की छाया में गहरी भूरी दीवारों व लाल खपरैल की छतों वाले मिटटी के छोटे झोपड़ों की ओर उनकी दृष्टि गई। उनमें गरीब बसते थे। जब भी आवश्यकता होती, निवेदिता दौड़कर जातीं। उन्हीं की एक घटना का वर्णन है: एक शाम निवेदिता खाना पका रही थीं। उसी समय रोने की आवाज ने गली की शान्ति भंग कर दी। निवेदिता आवाज की दिशा में बढ़ी, सामने नौकरों की झोपड़ियों के आंगन में एक लड़की मरणासन पड़ी थी, देखते ही देखते उसके प्राण निकल गए। पुरुष श्मशान घाट चले गए। ....... निवेदिता रोती महिलाओं के बीच सांत्वना देने बैठी रही, घण्टों बीत गए, वे नहीं जानती थी क्या बोलें। मृत बालिका की माँ मूर्छित सी मेरी बाहों में कुछ समय तक पड़ी रही। दुःख ने फिर आ घेरा, रोते हुए मुझ से बोली, अब मैं क्या करुँ ? मेरी बच्ची अब कहाँ है ? मेरी प्यारी बच्ची मुझे छोड़कर कहां चली गई ?

अकस्मात् करुणा से परिपूर्ण निवेदिता के मुँह से निकल पड़ा माँ शान्त होओ ! तुम्हारी बच्ची महामाई के पास है, काली माँ के पास है।' तब एक क्षण के लिए सब कुछ भूल कर दोनों परस्पर गले लग गए, विश्व ह्रदय की सांत्वना की अगाध गहनता में पूर्व व पश्चिम एक हो गए।'

एक बार अंधेरे में एक महिला पड़ोस में रो रही थी। उसकी में की मृत्यु होइ गई थी। निवेदिता उसकी झोपड़ी में गई, और चुपके से उसे अपनी बाँहों में ले लिया। उसका रोना तुरन्त थम गया, वह सिसकती हुई केवल इतना ही कह सकी, 'तुम्हीं मेरी माँ हो'।


To Be continue



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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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Tuesday 26 December 2017

Sister Nivedita: The Dedicated - Who gave her all to India – 17


यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

'Now, He shall work through us, we have no time to rest'  - 1


When Swami Vivekananda started on his second tour to West, few disciples accompanied him. Nivedita was one of them. His health was not so well but the sea voyage did him good. Everyday morning and evening he would come on the deck from his cabin and talk with Nivedita and others. Nivedita would take notes and then later write it down in detail. She wanted to share all the joy and wisdom with others by writing it down. 'Even a journey round a world becomes a pilgrimage if one makes it with the guru,' she wrote.

Nivedita was going to the West for two main reasons. One was to collect funds for the school and second reason was she had to attend her sister May's marriage. To the great joy of Noble family, Swami Vivekananda also decided to stay for few days with them.

The personality and message of Swamiji's thought was very intense. Her sister May was overwhelmed with Swamiji's thoughts, so worried she said to Nivedita, 'I feel that if I give way to Swamiji's power, then I shall never marry. I must not listen to him, for I have already given my word.' Richmond her brother also felt the power that radiated from the Swami Vivekananda's spirit and personality. He later wrote to his sister, "To have known the Swami was to have known something of what Christ was." After staying there for few days, Swamiji left with his other disciples. Nivedita stayed till the marriage day. Same night of marriage, she left though her mother was tearful. She said to herself, 'The work of the Divine Mother is all I have to think of.'

In London, the people were struck by her simple dress. She wore an extremely simple gown of white flannel with a girdle fastened at the waist. A rosary of beads always adorned her neck. Just few years before, they had seen her dressed like any other English woman. Secondly, they saw her praising the people of the India – the subject people! The people did not like it. However, her relentless work for the people of India earned her the name, 'A Champion for India'. A London Correspondent wrote, "There has arisen, a champion for India from an unexpected quarter, as was the way with champions of the old. Not from a far country, however, nor from a strange people, not from masculine ranks, has this new champion come. She is a lady, belonging to the Ruling Power of India, a lady of exceptional ability, who has given up a promising career in England to devote herself to the service of women of India. Miss Margaret Noble is her name, and though she has been only eighteen months in India, she has learned more of real Indian life during that time than have others who have passed as many years there."


To be Continue


 
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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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Monday 25 December 2017

Sister Nivedita: The Dedicated - Who gave her all to India – 16

 'I believe that India is one, indissoluble, indivisible. National Unity is built on the common home, the common interest, and the common love.

I believe that the strength, which spoke in the Vedas and Upanishads, in the making of religions and empires, in the learning of scholars and the meditation of the saints, is born once more amongst us, and its name today is Nationality.

I believe that the present of India is deep-rooted in her past, and that before her shines a glorious future. O Nationality, come thou to me as joy or sorrow, as honor or as shame! Make me thine own!'

-Sister Nivedita

यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

 'I am permanently embittered and disillusioned about British'


Before her training Nivedita had looked to India from outside. She considered the British rule in India as having brought the measure of stability necessary for the improvement of material conditions of India. However, later more she saw India from inside she realized what wrong the British rule had done to Indian Civilization. In a letter of 6 June to Mrs. Hammond, she wrote painfully, 'If you see the behavior of British with Indians here, you too would be ashamed of as I am.' The pride for British in her heart was replaced with wrath against British.

During the pilgrimage, Nivedita could not understand initially as to why Swamiji ate with the monks and did not join her and other foreign disciples in train journeys. But once at a station she saw a liveried servant debar Swami Vivekananda from entering the restaurant into which she and her friends were going. Another time an employee had burst into the compartment where the travelers had gathered during the day and the monks were ordered to be out of the compartment. The Swami and monk withdrew in silence. Nivedita was shocked and pained. At Almora, she came to know from one of the monks that the police had set spies to watch the activities of Swamiji. It was shock after shock for Nivedita.

Knowing fully well the glorious history of Kashmir, Swamiji wanted to start a Sanskrit College in Kashmir. Swamiji used to say that even now one could feel the vibrations of Vedic chants in this land. The Maharaja of Kashmir also was happy about the proposal and wanted to give an estate on which the college would be established. But, authorization for the transfer of deeds was refused by British. Swamiji's great dream collapsed. He said simply, "The Divine Mother has other plans".

But Nivedita was shocked she asked, "How is it, that an Indian Maharajah cannot give a brother of his faith an estate that is his own property? How is it that a Hindu cannot work freely at home for the good of his own country?" She wrote to her friends at London asking for the introduction to all the British working in India. Neither Nivedita's repeated interviews with the British Resident nor the American disciples' representations to their consul for permission for Sanskrit College had been of any avail. Nivedita had thought she would make British and Indians love each other with the British supporting all that was good in India. But, gradually she realized that the British worked in India differently, against the interest of the nation. She wrote, 'I am permanently embittered and disillusioned about the British.' She developed bitterness for the British and at the same time a great respect and love for India.

She got convinced that the first step for the great future of India was political freedom, freedom from British rule. She started working for it. Along with the school activities, she started involving herself in this work also.

To be Continue


 
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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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Sunday 24 December 2017

सारदा देवी तथा भगिनी निवेदिता - 2

यतो धर्म: ततो जय:

उन दिनों भोजनोपरांत आराम के समय निवेदिता महिलाओं का सम्भाषण सुनकर उन्हें 'ये ऐसा क्यों' आदि प्रश्न पूछतीं। विश्राम के बाद माताजी, शहर से आयीं भक्त महिलाओं से मिलतीं। माताजी क्षुब्ध मनों को कभी स्पर्श करके, कभी उपदेश देकर तो कभी डाँट कर शांत करतीं। माताजी सभी को नाम स्मरण करने को कहतीं। सप्ताह में दो दिन पुरुष भक्तों को दर्शन देतीं। माताजी कठिन समस्या के मूल में जाकर उसका समाधान करतीं।

योगिन माँ पुराणों की कहानियां सुनाया करतीं तथा लक्ष्मी दीदी अभिनय करतीं, निवेदिता भी उनमें सहभागी होती थीं। कभी वीणा लेकर कोई महिला भजन सुनाती। इस प्रकार माताजी के घर का वातावरण आमोदप्रिय रहता था। शंखनाद और घंटानाद की ध्वनि से संध्या पूजा शुरू होती। पंचारती करके प्रार्थना और स्तोत्र पाठ होता था। माताजी के मार्गदर्शन पर महिलाएँ तुलसी वृन्दावन के पास छत पर जप-ध्यान करने बैठती थीं।

निवेदिता में आत्मविश्वास निर्माण करने के लिए माताजी उन्हें अपने पास बिठाती। निवेदिता ने कहा है, -''माताजी के ध्यान में निमग्न होने पर माताजी के हृदय से एक प्रचंड ऊर्जाशक्ति का सर्वत्र संचार होता था और वहाँ उपस्थित सभी के हृदयों को स्पर्श करता था।'' स्वामीजी निवेदिता को अमरनाथ में जो आध्यात्मिक उपलब्धि देना चाहते थे, उसकी अनुभूति उन्हें वहाँ हो रही थी। 

एक दिन सायंकाल में निवेदिता को प्रतीत हुआ कि उनके नयनों से आनंदाश्रु बह रहे हैं। अनिर्वचनीय प्रशांति में चित्त निस्पंद और निमग्न हुआ है। वे निर्वाक और निःस्पंद हो देवता का प्रकाश अनुभव करने लगी। ध्यान के कारण शरीर शिथिल और मन शांत हुआ। अतीव आनंद हृदय में उमड़ने लगा। इसका अनुभव उन्हें पहले कभी नहीं हुआ था। मन सुषुप्ति में लीन होकर शरीरबोध न रहा। चित्त एकाग्र करना उनके लिए सहज हो गया था।

इस प्रकार निवेदिता माताजी के साथ 15 दिन आनंदपूर्वक रहीं। निवेदिता का जीवन, हर एक श्वांस, क्रियाकलाप माताजी के साथ जुड़कर उनके चरणों में समर्पित हो गया था। एक दिन शाम को माताजी आसन से उठ रही थीं, तभी निवेदिता ने उनके चरणों पर सिर रखा। माताजी अपने हाथ बहुत देर तक निवेदिता के मस्तक पर रखे रहीं और आशीर्वाद देते हुए कहा, ''अब तुम्हारे कार्य का आरम्भ होने दो।''

निवेदिता माताजी के घर के सामने वाले मकान में 16 नंबर बोसपाड़ा लेन में रहने गयीं। स्वामी योगानंद महाराज की महासमाधि के बाद निवेदिता का हृदय दुःख से व्यथित हो गया- ''उन्हें लगने लगा कि  अकेली हैं। क्या वह स्वामीजी की अपेक्षाओं को पूर्ण कर पाएगी?'' निवेदिता ने माताजी की गोदी में अपना सिर रखा। माताजी ने प्रेम से कहा, ''अपने गुरु के प्रति अपार प्रेम रखो। साधु पुरुषों के प्रति प्रेमभाव रखने से आत्मा का पुनरुत्थान होता है। यही भक्त का भगवान के प्रति दिव्य प्रेम है। शुद्ध प्रेम ही आत्मा का प्रकाश है। सुनो, मैंने अपने गुरु से (ठाकुर से) जैसा प्रेम किया था, वैसे तुम भी अपने गुरु स्वामीजी के प्रति प्रेमभाव रखो।''

13 नवम्बर, 1898 को कालीपूजा के दिन माताजी ने बालिका विद्यालय की प्रतिष्ठापना की। माताजी भक्तों को प्रोत्साहित करती थीं ताकि वे अपनी लड़कियों को विद्यालय में भेजें। लड़कियों को आत्मनिर्भर होना चाहिए, ऐसा माताजी मानती थीं। माताजी कहती थीं, ''लड़कियों का विवाह नहीं होता तो कोई बात नहीं, उन्हें निवेदिता की पाठशाला में भेजो। शिक्षा से उनका कल्याण ही होगा।''

निवेदिता लिखती हैं, ''एक दिन माताजी ने मुझे उनके अद्भुत दर्शन के बारे में बताया था। उन्होंने स्वप्न में मुझे गेरुए वस्त्र में देखा! पर मैं गेरुआ वस्त्र परिधान नहीं कर सकती। स्वामीजी ने मुझे नैष्ठिक ब्रह्मचर्य पालन का आदेश दिया है।'' निवेदिता की माताजी पर असीम निष्ठा थी। निवेदिता का स्वास्थ्य बड़ा खराब था। तब निवेदिता पत्र में लिखती हैं, ''कल माताजी मुझसे मिलने आयी थीं। मेरे स्वास्थ्य में थोड़ा सुधार हुआ है, यह जानकर वे बहुत खुश हुईं! इतना असीम प्रेम!'' निवेदिता के बारे में माताजी कहतीं, ''वो गत जन्म में हिन्दू थी। ठाकुर के नाम का प्रचार करने के लिए उसने वहाँ जन्म लिया हैं।'' निवेदिता जब कुछ विशेष कार्य करतीं तो माताजी कहतीं, ''बेटा, तुम धन्य हो! तुम्हारी निष्ठा! तुम्हारी गुरुभक्ति, अद्भुत है!''

निवेदिता प्रतिदिन दोपहर को माताजी के घर आकर उनकी चरणरज लेती थीं। हर रविवार माताजी के घर की साफ-सफाई करतीं। बिछौना ठीक करतीं, मेज की धूल साफ करतीं, साबुन के पानी से दरवाजा और खिड़कियों को धोती थीं। निवेदिता ने इन कार्यों को अपना परम कर्तव्य के रूप में स्वीकार किया था। एक बार निवेदिता ने अपने हाथों से नैवेद्य का प्रसाद बनाकर ठाकुर को भोग लगाया। दूसरों की परवाह न करते हुए माताजी ने यह प्रसाद ग्रहण किया। वहीं, माताजी निवेदिता को जयरामवाटी आने के लिए मना करतीं, क्योंकि वे नहीं चाहती थीं कि गाँव के लोग निवेदिता का अपमान करें।

निवेदिता माताजी को अनेक वस्तुएँ देना चाहती थीं, जैसे- रजाई, अलमारी आदि पर आर्थिक कठिनाइयों के कारण दे नहीं पाती थीं। 1909 में निवेदिता इंग्लैंड से भारत आयीं, तब उन्होंने माताजी और राधू के लिए भेंट वस्तुएँ लायी थीं। निवेदिता की हर एक वस्तु माताजी सम्भालकर रखती थीं। एक बार निवेदिता ने माताजी को छोटी जर्मन सिल्वर की डिब्बी दी थी। माताजी उसमें श्री ठाकुर के केश रखती थीं। माताजी ने कहा था, ''डिब्बी को देखकर ठाकुर के साथ निवेदिता की भी याद आएगी।'' निवेदिता द्वारा दी गई षाल फट गई थी, पर माताजी उसे सम्भाल कर रखतीं और फेंकने से मना करतीं। उन्होंने शाल को ठीक से मोड़कर पेटी में काले जीरे डालकर रख दी थी। उनके लिए वह निवेदिता का प्रेम था।

एक बार निवेदिता माताजी से मिलने गईं। प्रणाम कर माताजी के पास बैठीं। माताजी ने कुशलक्षेम पूछकर ऊन का पंखा निवेदिता के हाथ सौंपते हुए कहा, ''मैंने यह तुम्हारे लिए बनाया है।'' निवेदिता आनंदविभोर होकर पंखे को छाती, माथे पर रखकर कहने लगीं, ''कितना सुन्दर! कितना सुन्दर!!'' ऐसा कहते हुए वह अन्य लोगों को दिखाने लगीं। यह देख माताजी ने कहा, ''इतनी छोटी वस्तु की इतनी सराहना! कितनी श्रद्धा, कितना सरल भाव, साक्षात् देवी!! स्वामीजी, नरेन्द्र पर इसकी कितनी भक्ति! अपना देश छोड़कर उनका कार्य आगे बढ़ाने के लिए यह भारत आई है।'' माताजी ने राधू से कहा था, अपनी बड़ी बहन के रूप में निवेदिता को प्रणाम करो। माताजी, निवेदिता को पत्र लिखकर उसके स्वास्थ्य और कार्य के बारे में पूछती थीं। इससे निवेदिता का मानसिक सामथ्र्य झटपट बढ़ता था।

माताजी किसी भी नवीन आध्यात्मिक भाव व अनुभूति का मर्मभेद क्षणभर में निश्चयपूर्वक कर सकती थीं। निवेदिता को इसका अनुभव 'ईस्टर' के दिन आया। माताजी एकबार 'ईस्टर' के दिन निवेदिता के निवास पर गई थीं। माताजी और उनकी संगिनियों में ईसाई धर्म का तात्पर्य जानने की इच्छा प्रगट की। निवेदिता ने उन्हें फ्रेंच ऑर्गन पर 'ईस्टर' का गाना गाकर सुनाया। ईसा मसीह के पुनरुत्थान का स्तोत्र माताजी के लिए नया था। पर उन्होंने उसका मर्म और गंभीर भाव जल्द ही आत्मसात् कर लिया।
एक बार शाम को माताजी महिलाओं के साथ बैठी थीं। उन्होंने निवेदिता को यूरोपीय विवाह पद्धति के बारे में पूछा था। निवेदिता ने हास्य-विनोद के साथ यूरोपीय वर-वधु, ईसाई पादरी आदि का वर्णन किया और विवाह की प्रतिज्ञा सुनाने लगीं। ''सुख में व दुःख में, अमीरी या गरीबी में, व्याधिग्रस्त अथवा निरोगी अवस्था में हम मृत्युपर्यंत साथ रहेंगे।'' यह विवाह की प्रतिज्ञा सुनकर माताजी में गम्भीर भाव का उदय हुआ। परम संतुष्ट होकर वे बार-बार कहने लगीं, ''कितनी अपूर्व आत्मकथा! कितनी अपूर्व धर्मकथा!! और वही कथा बार-बार सुनने की इच्छा प्रगट करने लगीं।

माताजी मातृत्व का साकार स्वरूप हैं, ऐसी निवेदिता की श्रद्धा थीं। निवेदिता कहती थीं, ''जो उत्कट प्रेम हमें दूर नहीं कर सकता, जो आशीर्वाद हमेशा हमारे साथ है, जिनके सहवास में हमारी उन्नति होती है, जहाँ असीम मधुरता है, जिसकी पवित्रता में थोड़ी भी कृष्ण छाया नहीं...वो सब और इससे भी अधिक गुण यानी मातृत्व।''

निवेदिता के देह त्याग के बाद एक दिन माताजी के यहां एक ग्रन्थ से निवेदिता के सम्बन्ध में पढ़ा जा रहा था। निवेदिता की माताजी के प्रति भक्ति की कथा सुनकर सभी की आँखें भर आयीं। माताजी के आँखों से अश्रुपात हो रहा था। इस प्रसंग में माताजी ने कहा, "निवेदिता की कितनी अद्भुत भक्ति थी। उसे मेरे लिए 'क्या करूँ, क्या न करूँ' ऐसा हो जाता था। रात में जब वो मुझे मिलने आयी तब दियासलाई के प्रकाश से मेरी आंखों को तकलीफ न हो इसलिए दियासलाई (लालटेन) पर कागज लगाती थी। मुझे प्रणाम कर हल्के से चरण-रज को रुमाल में लेती थी। संभवतः मुझे तकलीफ होगी यह सोचकर प्रणाम करने में भी उसे संकोच होता था।'' फिर माताजी ने कहा, "बेटा जो सुप्राणी होता है उसके लिए महाप्राणी 'अंतरात्मा' रोता है। 

माताजी निवेदिता के विषय में कहती हैं, ''लोग निवेदिता को घर में आने नहीं देते थे। घर में आने दिया तो उसके जाने के बाद गोबर से पुतायी कर घर पर गंगाजल छिड़कते थे। इतना दुःख, कष्ट, अपमान सहकर भी उसने इस देश की लड़कियों को शिक्षित किया। अपने गुरु की आज्ञापालन के लिए जीवन समर्पित कर दिया....।'' 

- रामकृष्ण मठ, नागपुर (महाराष्ट्र)   
To Be continue



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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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