यतो धर्म: ततो जय:
Making people accept Nivedita - 2
Swami Vivekananda was also very careful about the safety of Nivedita. Swami Sadananda was asked by Swami Vivekananda to live in the outer quarter of the house. Swami Sadananda in short time knew all in the lane by name and he would tell them about white sister who was one among ourselves. He would tell in the evening stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata to people around.
Sometimes Swami Vivekananda would take some of his orthodox Brahmachari disciples to Nivedita's house. He would ask Nivedita to cook something for him. The disciples would immediately announce that they were not hungry as they did not wish to take food from her hands. Once the food was brought, Swamiji would taste and then tell the Brahmacharis, 'Just taste it, it is so delicious'. They would not be able to say no to him and taste the preparation. After leaving Nivedita's house, with twinkling eyes Swamiji would tease them, 'So, today you ate from her hands? You have got polluted and you have lost your religion.' Then he would heartily laugh. Earlier Nivedita used to think that Swamiji did not eat everything and just distributed it amongst all but gradually she understood that Swamiji was making her acceptable to all.
To make herself accepted by the people of her neighbourhood, Swamiji told to Nivedita, "Realize yourself without a trace of emotion, Control every restlessness of the mind, every expression of your face. Feel them as your own" Her biographers say that - it was appeal of death, as it turned out, that won all the hearts to Nivedita and that admitted her to intimacy with the women of Bagh Bazar. When plague broke out, Nivedita sprang into intense and immediate action. She visited the houses nearby. She even nursed the sick children. One child died in her lap, she consoled the mother of the child telling, 'Your child has gone to divine mother. It is she who decides everything for our good, so calm down'. She took up extensive cleaning of the area. When no one came forward, she herself started doing it, seeing that gradually others came. Along with the monks of Ramakrishna Mission, she organized the campaign for cleaning, for attending to the sick, for separating the patients etc. It was this, which dissolved the distance between Nivedita and people of Baghbazar. Nivedita was accepted as their own.
Sometimes Swami Vivekananda would take some of his orthodox Brahmachari disciples to Nivedita's house. He would ask Nivedita to cook something for him. The disciples would immediately announce that they were not hungry as they did not wish to take food from her hands. Once the food was brought, Swamiji would taste and then tell the Brahmacharis, 'Just taste it, it is so delicious'. They would not be able to say no to him and taste the preparation. After leaving Nivedita's house, with twinkling eyes Swamiji would tease them, 'So, today you ate from her hands? You have got polluted and you have lost your religion.' Then he would heartily laugh. Earlier Nivedita used to think that Swamiji did not eat everything and just distributed it amongst all but gradually she understood that Swamiji was making her acceptable to all.
To make herself accepted by the people of her neighbourhood, Swamiji told to Nivedita, "Realize yourself without a trace of emotion, Control every restlessness of the mind, every expression of your face. Feel them as your own" Her biographers say that - it was appeal of death, as it turned out, that won all the hearts to Nivedita and that admitted her to intimacy with the women of Bagh Bazar. When plague broke out, Nivedita sprang into intense and immediate action. She visited the houses nearby. She even nursed the sick children. One child died in her lap, she consoled the mother of the child telling, 'Your child has gone to divine mother. It is she who decides everything for our good, so calm down'. She took up extensive cleaning of the area. When no one came forward, she herself started doing it, seeing that gradually others came. Along with the monks of Ramakrishna Mission, she organized the campaign for cleaning, for attending to the sick, for separating the patients etc. It was this, which dissolved the distance between Nivedita and people of Baghbazar. Nivedita was accepted as their own.
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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