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= Sister_Nivedita =
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Introduction
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Sister Nivedita ( born Margaret Elizabeth Noble; 28 October 1867 - 13
October 1911) was an Irish teacher, author, social activist, school
founder and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her childhood and
early youth in Ireland. She was engaged to marry a Welsh youth, but he
died soon after their engagement.
Sister Nivedita met Swami Vivekananda in 1895 in London and travelled
to Calcutta (present-day Kolkata), India, in 1898. Swami Vivekananda
gave her the name 'Nivedita' (meaning "Dedicated to God") when he
initiated her into the vow of 'Brahmacharya' on 25 March 1898. In
November 1898, she opened a girls' school in the Bagbazar area of
North Calcutta. She wanted to educate girls who were deprived of even
basic education. During the plague epidemic in Calcutta in 1899,
Nivedita nursed and took care of the poor patients.
Nivedita had close associations with the newly established Ramakrishna
Mission. Because of her active contribution in the field of Indian
nationalism, she had to publicly dissociate herself from the
activities of the Ramakrishna Mission under the then president, Swami
Brahmananda. This had to be done in order to avoid their persecution
at the hands of British authorities in India. She was very close to
Sarada Devi, the wife of Ramakrishna and one of the major influences
behind Ramakrishna Mission, and also with all brother disciples of
Swami Vivekananda. She died on 13 October 1911 in Darjeeling. Her
epitaph reads, "Here lies Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India".
Early life
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Margaret Elizabeth Noble was born on 28 October 1867 in the town of
Dungannon in County Tyrone, Ireland, to Mary Isabel and Samuel
Richmond Noble; she was named for her paternal grandmother. The Nobles
were of Scottish descent, settled in Ireland for about five centuries.
Her father, who was a pastor, taught that service to mankind is the
true service to God. The Nobles had six children of whom only Margaret
(the eldest), May, and Richmond survived.
When Margaret was one year old, Samuel moved to Manchester, England;
there he enrolled as a theological student of the Wesleyan Church.
Young Margaret stayed with her maternal grandfather, Hamilton, in
Ireland.
When she was four years old, she returned to live with her parents at
Great Torrington in Devonshire. Margaret was her father's favorite
child. When Samuel Noble conducted services or visited the poor, she
accompanied him.
Margaret's father died in 1877 when she was ten years old. Margaret
with her mother and two siblings returned to her grandfather
Hamilton's home in Ireland. Margaret's mother, Mary, took up a
kindergarten course in London and became a teacher. Later, Mary helped
her mother to run a guest-house near Belfast. Hamilton was one of the
first-ranking leaders of the Irish nationalist movement. Besides her
father's religious temperament, Margaret imbibed the spirit of freedom
and love for her country through her grandfather Hamilton.
Margaret was educated at Halifax College, run by a member of the
Congregationalist Church. The headmistress of this college taught her
about personal sacrifice. She studied subjects, including physics,
arts, music, and literature.
At the age of seventeen in 1884, she first started a career in
teaching at a school in Keswick. In 1886, she went to Rugby to teach
in an orphanage. A year later, she took up a post at the coal-mining
area of Wrexham in North Wales. Here, she revived her spirit of
service and love for the poor, which she had inherited from her
father. At Wrexham, Margaret became engaged to be married to a Welsh
youth, who died soon after the engagement. In 1889, Margaret moved to
Chester. By this time, her sister May and brother Richmond were living
in Liverpool. Soon, their mother Mary joined them. Margaret was happy
to be reunited with her family. Occasionally, she went to Liverpool to
stay with them.
Margaret resumed her studies in the field of education. She became
acquainted with the ideas of the Swiss education reformer Johann
Heinrich Pestalozzi and with the German Friedrich Fröbel. Both
Pestalozzi and Froebel emphasized the importance of preschool
education. They opined that education should begin by gratifying and
cultivating the normal aptitude of the child for exercise, play,
observation, imitation, and construction. A group of teachers in
England was attracted to this novel method of teaching, and they tried
to put it into practice. Thus, the 'New Education' was advocated and
Margaret, too, became a part of it. Soon, she became a favourite
writer and speaker at the Sunday Club and the Liverpool Science Club.
In 1891, Margaret settled in Wimbledon and helped, a Mrs. de Leeuw, to
start a new school in London. The new experiment in teaching gave her
great joy. After a year, in 1892, Margaret started her own independent
school at Kingsleygate. At her school, there were no restrictive set
methods and formal learning. Children learned through play. At this
time, Margaret learned to be a critic of art from one of her staff
teachers, Ebenezer Cooke, a well-known art master and reformer of art
education.
As she gained mastery as an educator, she also became a prolific
writer in paper and periodicals and a popular speaker. Soon she became
a name among the intellectuals of London and became acquainted with
some of the most learned and influential people of her time. Among
them were Lady Ripon and Lady Isabel Margesson. They were the founders
of a literary coterie, which came to be known as the Sesame Club. 'The
Times of London' of 26 October 1911, wrote about Margaret, "A trained
teacher of exceptional gifts, she was one of a group of educationists
who in the early nineties founded the Sesame Club." Famous writers,
such as W.B. Yeats, Bernard Shaw and Thomas Huxley, were some of the
regular speakers at the Sesame Club. Discussions were held here on
literature, ethics, politics, and other similar subjects.
In 1892, when the Home Rule Bill for Ireland was before the
Parliament, Margaret spoke fearlessly in favor of it.
Seeker of Truth
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Coming from a religious background, Margaret had learned Christian
religious doctrines from a young age. From childhood, she had learned
to venerate all religious teachings. The infant Jesus was her object
of adoration and worship. However, as she bloomed into womanhood,
doubt in the Christian doctrines crept in. She found the teachings
were incompatible with Truth. As these doubts became stronger, her
faith in Christianity was shaken. For seven long years, Margaret was
unable to settle her mind, and this led to unhappiness. She tried to
absorb herself in church service. However, her troubled soul could not
find satisfaction, and she longed for Truth.
Search for truth made Margaret take up the study of natural science.
Later, in a lecture delivered at the Hindu Ladies' Social Club in
Bombay in 1902, she said:
Meeting with Swami Vivekananda
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In November 1895, she met Swami Vivekananda for the first time, who
had come from America to visit London and stayed there for three
months. On a cold afternoon, Swami Vivekananda was explaining Vedanta
philosophy in the drawing room of an aristocratic family at 63 St
George's Road, London. Lady Isabel Margesson, a friend of Margaret,
invited Ebenezer Cooke, who was part of the teaching staff at
Margaret's 'Ruskin School', to this meeting. Margaret went with him,
with much curiosity and interest. Margaret did not know this evening
would change her life completely. Margaret described her experience of
the occasion. "A majestic personage, clad in a saffron gown and
wearing a red waistband, sat there on the floor, cross-legged. As he
spoke to the company, he recited Sanskrit verses in his deep, sonorous
voice." Margaret had already delved deeply into the teachings of the
East, and the novelty was not what she heard on this occasion, but the
personality of Swamiji himself. She attended several other lectures by
Swami Vivekananda. She asked a lot of questions, and his answers
dispelled her doubts and established her faith and reverence for the
speaker.
Nivedita wrote in 1904 to a friend about her decision to follow Swami
Vivekananda as a result of her meeting him in England in November
1895:
She started taking interest in the teachings of Gautama Buddha, and
her discussions with Swami Vivekananda were an alternate source of
peace and benediction. She wrote:
Vivekananda's principles and teachings influenced her and this brought
about a visible change in her. Seeing the fire and passion in her,
Swami Vivekananda could foresee her future role in India. 25 March
1898, was the holiest and most unforgettable day of Nivedita's
(Margaret) life. That was the day on which her guru dedicated her to
God and to the service of India.
Vivekananda had toured the Indian subcontinent extensively, acquiring
first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. In
his opinion, education was the panacea for all evils plaguing
contemporary Indian society, especially that of Indian women. Margaret
was chosen for the role of educating Indian women. In his letter to
Margaret, Vivekananda 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 especially."
Travel to India
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Responding to Swami Vivekananda's call, Margaret travelled to India,
leaving behind her friends and family, including her mother.
'Mombasa', the ship bringing Margaret to India, reached Calcutta on 28
January 1898. On 22 February, Margaret visited Dakshineshwar temple,
the place where Ramakrishna did his 'sadhana'.
Swami Vivekananda devoted the initial few days in teaching her about
India and its people, and helping her develop the love for the people;
he was broadening her character. He explained India's history,
philosophy, literature, the life of the common mass, social
traditions, and also the lives of great personalities, both ancient
and modern, to her. A few weeks later, two of Swami Vivekananda's
women disciples in America, Sara C. Bull, wife of famous Norwegian
violinist and composer Ole Bull and Josephine MacLeod arrived in
India. The three became lifelong friends.
On 11 March 1898, Swami Vivekananda organized a public meeting at Star
Theatre to introduce Sister Nivedita to the people of Calcutta. In his
speech, Swami Vivekananda said, "England has sent us another gift in
Miss Margaret Noble." In this meeting, Margaret expressed her desire
to serve India and its people.
On 17 March she met Sarada Devi who greeted Margaret affectionately as
'Khooki' (i.e. little girl).
Brahmacharya
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On 25 March 1898, at Nilambar Mukherjee Garden, Swami Vivekananda
formally initiated Margaret in the vow of Brahmacharya (lifelong
celibacy) and gave her the name of "Nivedita", the dedicated one.
Swami Vivekananda said to her, "Go thou and follow Him, Who was born
and gave His life for others five hundred times before He attained the
vision of the Buddha."
Though Sister Nivedita expressed her desire to take the ultimate vow
of Sannyasa, Swami Vivekananda did not approve of it. Later, after the
demise of Swami Vivekananda, on 28 July 1902, Nivedita wrote to the
Editor of the 'Statesman' the following letter:
Swami Vivekananda was anxious to mold Nivedita as a Hindu
Brahmacharini. He wanted her to be a Hindu in thoughts and actions. He
encouraged her to visit Hindu ladies to observe their way of life. He
told her:
Relationship with Sarada Devi
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Within a few days of her arrival in India, on 17 March 1898, Margaret
met Sarada Devi, wife and spiritual consort of Ramakrishna, who,
surpassing all language and cultural barriers, embraced her as
"khooki" or "little girl" in Bengali. It was St.Patrick's Day, a very
holy & special day in Margaret's life, and Nivedita recounted it
as her "day of days." Until her death in 1911, Nivedita remained one
of the closest associates of Sarada Devi. On 13 November 1898, the
Holy Mother Sarada Devi came to open Nivedita's newly founded school.
After worshiping Ramakrishna, she consecrated the school and blessed
it, saying: ‘I pray that the blessings of the Divine Mother may be
upon the school and the girls; and the girls trained from the school
may become ideal girls.' Nivedita was delighted and recorded her
feelings later as "I cannot imagine a grander omen than her blessings,
spoken over the educated Hindu womanhood of the future." The first
photograph of Sarada Devi was taken at Nivedita's house.
Nivedita wrote in a letter to her friend Nell Hammond about Sarada
Devi after her first few meetings with her, "She really is, under the
simplest, most unassuming guise, one of the strongest and greatest of
women."
An excerpt is provided here from the Gospel of Holy Mother, where
Sarada Devi's impressions about Nivedita are captured vividly:
Travels
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Nivedita travelled to many places in India, including Kashmir, with
Swami Vivekananda, Josephine MacLeod, and Sara Bull. This helped her
in connecting to the Indian masses, Indian culture, and its history.
She also went to the United States to raise awareness and get help for
her cause. On 11 May 1898, she went with Swami Vivekananda, Sara Bull,
Josephine MacLeod, and Swami Turiyananda, on a journey to the
Himalayas. From Nainital, they travelled to Almora. On 5 June 1898,
she wrote a letter to her friend Nell Hammond exclaiming, "'Oh Nell,
Nell, India is indeed the Holy Land'." In Almora, she first learned
the art of meditation. She wrote about this experience, "A mind must
be brought to change its centre of gravity... again the open and
disinterested state of mind welcomes truth." She also started learning
Bengali from Swami Swarupananda. From Almora, they went to Kashmir
valley, where they stayed in houseboats. In the summer of 1898,
Nivedita travelled to Amarnath with Swami Vivekananda. Later in 1899,
she travelled to the United States with Swami Vivekananda and stayed
in Ridgely Manor in upstate New York.
She later recorded some of her tour and experiences with her master
(guru) in the book 'The Master as I Saw Him' and 'Notes on Some
Wanderings with Swami Vivekananda'.
She often used to refer to Swami Vivekananda as "The King" and
considered herself as his spiritual daughter ('Manaskanya' in
Bengali).
Swami Vivekananda's death
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Sister Nivedita saw Swami Vivekananda for the last time on 2 July 1902
at Belur Math. Vivekananda was observing the Ekadashi fasting on that
day. However, when his disciples took their meal, he himself served
them joyfully. After the meal, Vivekananda poured water over
Nivedita's hands, and dried them with a towel. Nivedita recorded it in
'The Master As I Saw Him' in the following words:
Swami Vivekananda died at 9:10 p.m. on 4 July 1902. On that night,
Nivedita dreamed Sri Ramakrishna was leaving his body a second time.
On the next morning, Swami Saradananda from Belur Math sent a monk
with a letter to Sister Nivedita and conveying the message of
Vivekananda's death. Instantly everything around Nivedita's eyes
became blank. She immediately rushed to the 'Math' and reached the
place around 7a.m. and entered the room of Vivekananda. There she
found Swamiji's body was laid on the floor. She sat near Vivekananda's
head and fanned his body with a hand fan until his body was taken down
at 2p.m. to the porch leading to the courtyard.
In the afternoon of 5 July, Swami Vivekananda's body was taken for
cremation. Vivekananda's body was wrapped in a saffron cloth. Nivedita
wished to take a small portion of that cloth so that she could send it
as a memento to Josephine MacLeod. Understanding the mind of Nivedita
Swami Saradananda asked her to cut a small portion of the Swami's
cloth. But, Nivedita was unsure whether the act would be proper or not
and decided not to take it. When Vivekananda's body was being
cremated, she sat all the while looking at the burning pyre. Around
six o'clock in the evening, the burning flame was about to go out.
Suddenly, Nivedita felt somebody had pulled her sleeve. She turned
around and found a small piece of saffron cloth which had somehow come
out of the pyre during cremation. Nivedita lifted and took the cloth,
considering it as a message from the Swami. In her letter to Josephine
MacLeod on 14 September 1902, Nivedita wrote:
Girls' school in Bagbazar
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Nivedita was planning to open a school for girls who were deprived of
even basic education. She toured England and America on a lecture tour
designed to raise money to establish a girls' school.
The main reason why Swamiji invited Nivedita to India was to spread
education to the women of the country. This is why, when Nivedita
informed Vivekananda about her planning, he felt very excited. He
organized a meeting at Balaram Bose's house on this issue. Many lay
devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, including Mahendranath Gupta (popularly
known as Sri M., the chronicler of 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'),
Suresh Dutta, Haramohan etc. attended this meeting. In this meeting,
Nivedita explained her plan of the proposed school and requested
everyone to send their girls to the school to study. During her
speech, Vivekananda entered the room and took a seat behind everyone.
Nivedita did not notice it. But, when Nivedita appealed to collect
girl students for the school, she suddenly discovered Vivekananda in
the room pushing others and prompting - "Ye, get up, get up! It's not
good enough to just become girls' fathers. All of you must co-operate
in the matter of their education as per national ideals. Stand up and
commit. Reply to her appeal. Say, 'We all agree. We shall send our
girls to you." But no one stood up to support Nivedita's proposal.
Finally, Vivekananda forced Haramohan to agree to the proposal and
behalf of Haramohan, Vivekananda promised to send his girls to the
school.
On 13 November 1898, on the day of 'Kali Puja', at 16 Bosepara Lane in
the Bagbazar area of North Calcutta, she started the school. The
school was inaugurated by Sarada Devi, in the presence of Swami
Vivekananda and some of the other disciples of Ramakrishna. Sarada
Devi blessed and prayed for the school saying - "I pray that the
blessings of the Divine Mother may be upon the school and the girls;
and the girls trained from the school may become ideal girls."Nivedita
went from home to home in educating girls, many of whom were in
pitiable condition owing to the socio-economic condition of early 20th
century India. In many cases, she encountered refusal from the male
members of the girl's family. Nivedita had widows and adult women
among her students. She taught sewing, elementary rules of hygiene,
nursing, etc., apart from regular courses.
Collecting money for the school was not an easy task. She had to earn
money from her writings and giving lectures, and later she spent all
to meet the expenses of the school.
She took part in altruistic activities. She worked to improve the
lives of Indian women of all castes.
Work during plague epidemic
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During the outbreak of a plague epidemic in Calcutta in 1899, Nivedita
nursed and took care of the patients, cleaned rubbish from the area,
and inspired and motivated many youths to render voluntary service.
She inserted appeals for help in the English newspapers and requested
for financial support for her plague relief activities. She also
organized the day-to-day activities, inspected the work and personally
handed over the written instructions for the preventive measures by
moving around.
She was a friend to many intellectuals and artists in the Bengali
community, including Rabindranath Tagore, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Abala
Bose, and Abanindranath Tagore. Later, she took up the cause of Indian
independence. Sri Aurobindo was one of her friends as well.
Cultivation of Indian culture
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She took an active interest in promoting Indian history, culture, and
science. She actively encouraged Dr. Jagadish Chandra Bose, the Indian
scientist and philosopher, to pursue original scientific research and
helped him financially as well in getting due recognition when he was
faced with an indifferent attitude from the colonial government. Bose,
whom she called "khoka" or the "little one" in Bengali, and his wife
Abala Bose, were in very close terms with her. Keeping in view
Nivedita's contribution to the scientific research work of Jagadish
Chandra, Rabindranath Tagore said: "In the day of his success,
Jagadish gained an invaluable energizer and helper in Sister Nivedita,
and in any record of his life's work her name must be given a place of
honour." Sister Nivedita was one of the important influences on
Jagadish Chandra Bose. She supported him by organizing the financial
support and editing his manuscripts and made sure that Bose was able
to continue with and share his work.
Her identity as both a westerner by birth and a disciple of Swami
Vivekananda enabled her to do several things that might have been
difficult for Indians. For example, she promoted pan-Indian
nationalism.
Contribution towards Indian nationalism
=========================================
Nivedita became a prolific writer and toured India extensively to
deliver lectures, especially on Indian culture and religions. She
appealed to the youth of India to work selflessly for the cause of
their country along the ideals of Swami Vivekananda. Before coming to
India, Nivedita expressed a positive view towards continued colonial
rule in India, a prevailing sentiment amongst her contemporaries in
Europe. However, during the course of her time in India, Nivedita grew
disillusioned with colonial rule and grew to support the nascent
independence movement, concluding that it was necessary for India to
gain independence to prosper. In February 1902, lawyer (and future
leader of the independence movement) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
visited Nivedita in Calcutta.
After Vivekananda's death, being acutely aware of the inconvenience of
the newly formed Ramakrishna Mission on account of her political
activities, she publicly dissociated herself from it. However, until
her last days, she had a very cordial relationship with the brother
disciples of Swami Vivekananda like Swami Brahmananda, Baburam Maharaj
(Swami Premananda) and Swami Saradananda, who helped her in her
charitable and educational activities in every possible way; she was
very close to the holy mother, Sarada Devi.
Nivedita had initially worked with Okakura of Japan and Sarala Ghoshal
who was related to the Tagore family.
She later started working on her own and maintained a direct
relationship with many of the young revolutionaries of Bengal,
including those of Anushilan Samity, a secret organization. She
inspired many youths in taking up the cause of Indian independence
through her lectures. She also attacked Lord Curzon after his speech
at the University of Calcutta in 1905 where he mentioned that truth
was given a higher place in the moral codes of the West, than in the
East. Nivedita undertook her own research and made it public that in
the book 'Problems of The Far East' by Curzon, he had proudly
described how he had given false statements about his age and marriage
to the President of the Korean Foreign Office to win his favour. This
statement when published in newspapers like 'Amrita Bazar Patrika' and
'The Statesman' caused a furore and forced Curzon to apologize.
In 1905, the colonial government, under the direction of Lord Curzon,
initiated the partition of Bengal which proved to be a major turning
point in the Indian independence movement. Nivedita played a
pioneering role in organizing the movement. She provided financial and
logistical support and leveraged her contacts to get information from
government agencies and forewarn independence activists. She met
Indian artists like Abanindranath Tagore, Ananda Coomaraswamy and E.
B. Havell and inspired them to develop a pure Indian school of art.
She always inspired and guided the talented students of the Calcutta
Art School to move along the forgotten tracks of ancient Indian art
like Nandalal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar and Surendranath Gangopadhyay.
She exerted great influence on the famous Tamil poet, Subramania
Bharati, who met her only briefly in 1906. She influenced Bharati to
work for the freedom of the women in the country, which he did all
through his life. Nivedita had also designed a national flag for India
with the thunderbolt as the emblem against a red background. Nivedita
tried her utmost to inculcate the nationalist spirit in the minds of
her students through all their daily activities. She introduced
singing of the song Vande Mataram in her school as a prayer. Nivedita
provided guarded support to Annie Besant and was very close to
Aurobindo Ghosh (later Sri Aurobindo), one of the major contributors
towards the early nationalist movement. She edited 'Karma Yogin', the
nationalist newspaper of Aurobindo. The following piece is from an
editorial in 'Karma Yogin', written by Nivedita, which depicts her
intense respect for India:
Death
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Nivedita died on 13 October 1911, aged 43, at Roy Villa, Darjeeling.
Today, her memorial is located below the Railway station on the way to
the Victoria Falls (of Darjeeling) with these words inscribed in her
epitaph: "Here lies Sister Nivedita who gave her all to India". Swami
Vivekananda wrote a poem to Sister Nivedita, 'A benediction to Sister
Nivedita'. In this poem, Vivekananda condensed all his hopes,
aspirations, and good wishes for his disciple, Nivedita as 'The
mistress, servant, friend in one to India's future son':
The mother's heart, the hero's will
The sweetness of the southern breeze,
The sacred charm and strength that dwell
On Aryan altars, flaming, free;
All these be yours and many more
No ancient soul could dream before-
Be thou to India's future son
The mistress, servant, friend in one.
Influence
======================================================================
Sister Nivedita remains one of the most influential female figures of
India. Her book 'Kali, the Mother' influenced Abanindranath Tagore who
painted Bharat Mata. In 2010, the office of the board of West Bengal
Board of Secondary Education in Salt Lake City, Kolkata was named
after Sister Nivedita. The Sister Nivedita Academy, an institution
dedicated to her memory has been established in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Several schools and colleges have been named after her. In 1968, the
Indian Government issued a postal stamp in her memory. The Nivedita
bridge near Dakshineswar, Kolkata is named in her honour. In 2015, a
new Government Degree College at Hastings House, Alipur, Kolkata was
named after Sister Nivedita. In 2018, the higher secondary section
school building of Baranagore Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama High School
at Kolkata was named after Sister Nivedita as "Nivedita Bhawan".
Books
======================================================================
Her works included 'The Web of Indian Life', which sought to rectify
many myths in the Western world about Indian culture and customs,
'Kali the Mother', 'The Master as I Saw Him' on Swami Vivekananda,
'Notes of Some Wanderings with the Swami Vivekananda' on her travels
from Nainital, Almora and other places with Swamiji, 'Cradle Tales of
Hinduism' on the stories from Puranas, Ramayana and Mahabharata,
'Studies from an Eastern Home', 'Civil Ideal and Indian Nationality,
Hints on National Education in India', 'Glimpses of Famine and Flood
in East Bengal - 1906'.
* 'Kali the Mother', Swan Sonnenschein & Co.,. 1900.
* 'The Web of Indian Life', W. Heinemann 1904
* 'Cradle Tales of Hinduism', Longmans 1907
* 'An Indian Study of Love and Death', Longmans, Green & Co.,
* 'The Master as I Saw Him', 1910
* 'Select essays of Sister Nivedita', 1911 Ganesh & Co.,
* 'Studies from an Eastern Home', Longmans, Green & Co., 1913
* 'Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists', London : George G. Harrap
& Co., 1913
* 'Notes of some wanderings with the Swami Vivekananda', 1913
* 'Footfalls of Indian History', Longmans, Green & Co., 1915
* 'Religion and Dharma', Longmans, Green, and Co., 1915
*
A newly annotated edition of 'The Ancient Abbey of Ajanta', that was
serialized in 'The Modern Review' during 1910 and 1911, was published
in 2009 by Lalmati, Kolkata, with annotations, additions, and
photographs by Prasenjit Dasgupta and Soumen Paul. Another collection
of essays relating to Buddhism has been published by New Age
Publishers of Kolkata titled 'Studies in Buddhism', that has been
compiled and annotated by Prasenjit Dasgupta and Soumen Paul.
''Biographies''
=================
In 1952, Ramakrishna Mission Sister Nivedita Girls' School during its
Golden Jubilee Celebration, decided to bring out a biography of Sister
Nivedita in English and Bengali. Though there were some biographies in
English and Bengali before this, they lack in historical facts. The
historical account of Sister Nivedita's life in Bengali was written by
Pravrajika Muktiprana of Sri Sarada Math and was published in 1959.
The materials for the biographies were sourced from Sister Nivedita's
own works, letters and diaries, references made to her by some of her
contemporaries, and interviews with those who had worked with her and
her own students. Later, in 1961, the English version of the book
written by Pravrajika Atmaprana was published as 'Sister Nivedita of
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda'. Since then, the books had seen several
revisions.
'Letters of Sister Nivedita' were first published in two volumes in
1960. There were more than 800 letters, half of which were written to
Miss Josephine MacLeod. These letters vibrant with her thoughts and
feelings cast a lot of light on the versatile genius of Nivedita.
In 1975, Barbara Fox published in London a biography of Sister
Nivedita titled 'Long Journey Home'. This work attempts to gauge
Nivedita's work from an English woman's point of view.
'Nivedita Lokmata' in Bengali was published in three volumes by
Sankari Prasad Basu in 1968, 1987, and 1988 respectively.
See also
======================================================================
* 'Bhagini Nivedita', 1962 Indian film directed by Bijoy Basu
*Sister Nivedita University
*Bhagini Nivedita College
*Bhagini Nivedita Gramin Vigyan Niketan
Cited sources
======================================================================
*
* 'Letters of Sister Nivedita'
[
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98907 Vol. 1]
[
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98908/page/n7 Vol. 2].
Basu, Sankari Prasad (Ed.). 1960. Nababharat Publishers.
* 'The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita'
*: Volume 1: 'The Master as I Saw Him'; 'Notes of Some Wanderings';
Kedar Nath and Bhadri Narayan; 'Kali the Mother'.
*: Volume 2: 'The Web of Indian Life'; An Indian Study of Love and
Death; 'Studies from an Eastern Home'; Lectures and Articles.
*: Volume 3: Indian Art; Cradle Tales of Hinduism; Religion and
Dharma; Aggressive Hinduism.
*: Volume 4: 'Footfalls of Indian History'; Civic Ideal and Indian
Nationality; Hints on National Education in India; Lambs Among Wolves.
*: Volume 5: On Education; On Hindu Life, Thought and Religion; On
Political, Economic and Social Problems; Biographical Sketches and
Reviews.
Further reading
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*
*
*
*
*
* Chapter 23 "Sister Nivedita"
*
*
*
*
* Som, Reba (2017). 'Margot: Sister Nivedita of Swami Vivekananda'.
Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 336.
External links
======================================================================
*
* [
https://archive.org/details/The.Complete.Works.of.Sister.Nivedita
'The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita' - 5 Volumes] (Free Download
Pdf & Djvu) at Archive.org
*
License
=========
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Nivedita
