Nivedita, CONTINUED

When we try to imagine a collectivity like nation (desh) or universal humanity (biswamanav) in an embodied form in our hearts, no clear image really rises up before us. There are reasons for that. It is because we try to reach this image of the collective, through our intellects. We have not actually seen ‘universal humanity’.  Anyone who does not see the image of his nation, in each face he encounters, has not really seen his nation, no matter what claim he may make. I have seen Sister Nivedita, to see and touch the nation, in the truest manner possible. I once saw her address a very ordinary Muslim woman, living in a hut in a village, with the greatest respect. Unless one really sees the glorious image of universal humanity in everyone, it is not possible to show such respect.  It is because she was capable of respecting all human beings as the Ultimate Human Being that she never lost her sense of respect even after having lived so close to India for so many years.

Nivedita, continued...

Essentially she was what one would call, the Mother of the People. Hers was not the kind of motherly feeling that remained confined within her family, only. It was a vast love that enveloped an entire people, creating an example hitherto unseen by us. Perhaps I had some sense of a how a man may feel duty and responsibility towards his nation. However, I had never seen before such force of tenderness in a woman, towards a nation.  When she used to say ‘Our people’ the kinship with the ‘people’ that came through in her voice, I had never heard in any of our own voices. Those who  have seen how wholeheartedly and completely Nivedita loved the peoples of India, will realize that many of us give our time, our money, even sometimes our lives, to the people, but we have not been able to give them our hearts.  We do not know what it is to really draw them close to ourselves and feel their pulse beat.

Nivedita, continued

If she considered something worth striving for, then she invested her entire energy in it. However, she was never interested in earning fame from the success of these ventures.  She could have easily created an organization and declared herself as its Head, but God had destined her for greater things than that. She did not compromise the blazing energy of the Truth within her by marketing her ideas and ensuring that they spread through the infrastructure of the organization. She left her heart and soul in India, but not an organization that was named after her.

Her decision not to found an organization was not because she considered herself racially and intellectually superior to the people with whom she would have to tie herself. It was not because she did not respect the Indian populace that she did not try to install herself as their leader. On the other hand, it was from her example that we learnt what giving one’s heart to the people, was. Most of us speak of ‘love for the people’ in simply academic terms without truly speaking from the heart. However just like a mother loves her child single-mindedly, Nivedita loved the Indian populace like her very own child. When she referred to the ‘people’ of India, a vast tenderness seemed to emanate from her and envelop these ‘people’. If the Indian ‘people’ could be reduced to a single child, Nivedita would have raised this child with every atom of love and dedication within her.

Sister Nivedita, continued...

However, Sister Nivedita gave herself completely to India, in a spirit of absolute love and respect, reserving nothing for herself. It was not as though she was innately so low keyed that she could not forcefully acquire a place for herself. As I have already indicated before, she was extremely strong willed and sometimes applied the force of her will on others. Whatever she wanted, she wanted absolutely, and if impeded or questioned in any way, she could express great impatience and irritation. Her western upbringing had taught her to assert her will, and I cannot say that it never did anyone any harm, because the forceful application of one’s ideas on someone else is never a good thing. In spite of that I will still say that her broad and liberal humanity, far outstripped her sometimes unfair forcefulness.

Sister Nivedita, continued....

One cannot say that her projects were small because she lacked strength.

One must remember that the kind of strength Sister Nivedita had could easily have earned her significant prestige in her own country. All who came into contact with her there, acknowledged the enormous incandescence of her spirit. However Nivedita was not in the least interested in acquiring renown and fame in her own land.

Even in India, she did not wish to sway people’s opinion in a way that she could establish herself as an important personality. One has seen other Europeans too in this country who have looked upon their work in India as the most important thing in their lives. However, they have not worked without self interest and have always tried to remain in a position of preeminence in Indian society. They have not been able to give of themselves entirely in a spirit of humility. With them, one always has a sense that they worked more out of a principle of charity, rather than respect and love for the people to whom they gave. In this context let us remember the adage, ‘What one gives with an attitude of respect to the other, is truly a gift. If there is no respect, then there is no giving’. If the left hand does not respect what the right hand gives, then the act of giving is nullified.  

Translation of Sister Nivedita, continued

What one notices most singularly about her is that as much as she was given to deep feeling, she was also extremely action oriented. The work that is the output of action will always carry the traces of the struggle to give it shape and form. Any piece of work, by its very nature, thus suffers from imperfection. Feeling, on the other hand, can remain perfect and autonomous. That is why one finds, that those who are prone towards deep feeling, are often either scornful of work or are afraid of it. Again, those who are extremely action oriented, may be cut off from feeling much, and consequently do not suffer if their work does not rise to a level of perfection.

However, where feeling is not an escape from work and work is simply not the flamboyant display of energy and entirely geared towards worldly ends, there the principle of work and feeling both meet and fuse. In such a case, work becomes the expression of feeling. In such cases, even the insignificant becomes significant, and the unfinished and imperfect imbued with the light of the sun even if it remains screened by clouds. Sister Nivedita’s work was like that.

Sister Nivedita (continued)

If we remain indifferent to this outstanding example of heroic self sacrifice, because it exists in our backyard, we will lose out significantly. We cannot simply presume upon it and claim it arrogantly as part of our natural inheritance given to us by our society. We have to rather, take very careful cognizance of the splendid power, the intelligence, the heart, the sacrifice and the overall luminousness of self which made a life such as Nivedita’s, possible.

If we truly realized the enormity and extent of Nivedita’s sacrifice, we would lose a great deal of the pride that we derive from being Hindu. We ascribe her greatness to the Hindu way of life or to the Hindu religion. We are simply making her an instrument for augmenting our cultural pride.  By attributing her greatness to the greatness of the Hindu religion, by arguing that her unique selflessness arises from her being Hindu at heart, we are significantly taking credit away from her and giving it to ourselves.

If we try to establish her as being just Hindu, we will face obstacles in our journey. I am afraid I can’t agree with the position that she was Hindu in the way one generally understands it. If we closely analyze how she assessed Hindu society through  scientific and historical perspectives, how she  refused to be tied to dogma, how she tried to explain the various moods and manifestations of Hinduism through  liberal understanding and  imagination, some of the central premises of what one considers ‘Hindu’ would perhaps be demolished or shaken. If   historical truth is asserted as greater than the truth of the Puranas, then may be that aids in determining what the truth of Puranic premises might be, but belief in historical truth does not come so readily. Whatever the case may be, she is worthy of our respect and reverence not because she was Hindu, but because she was great. We cannot pose as her equals, she was greater than us. It is not her Hinduism that enfolds us in her glory, but her Humanism, that does it. 

What on