‘THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA’ BY SISTER NIVEDITA:

A GUIDANCE FOR VALUE- EDUCATION

DR. TARAKNATH TARAPHDAR

THE CHANGING VALUES■ ‘Deva bhagang yathaa purve’ – Sanjnan suktam

■‘Maa grdhah kasyasidhanam’ -- Ishopanishad

■“Property is theft” -- Proudhon

THE VALUES

■OLD VALUES LINGER ON■OLD VALUES HINDER PROGRESS?■BRAINWASHING COMMON PEOPLE BY THE RULING CLASS?

THE BASIS OF THE VALUES

ECONOMIC STRUCTURESOCIAL STRUCTURE: BUDDHIST

SANGHATRADITIONS/ CUSTOMSRATIONALITY?

THE VALUES HE UPHELD■ “Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas,

for ages to come”■ ‘The national ideals of India are RENUNCIATION and

SERVICE.’

■ Swamiji himself had introduced Sister Nivedita to the path of ‘Discovery of the soul of India’.

■ It was an interesting journey, the ‘discovery of the heart of India’, a path full of conflict of ideas and ideals; a path of immense faith, love and dedication that overwhelmed the thorns of doubt and periods of misunderstanding.

THE JOURNEY■This journey of transformation, not only in ideas and

ideals, but accepting India as her own country, speaking of the Indians as ‘Our People’ with so much love, tenderness and ownership that none could match, identifying herself with the cause of upliftment of India, her past glory and present degradation, is an unparalleled history.

■This remarkable journey will make us understand the values based on Indian culture, which we uphold as our glorious heritage and try to infuse it in the minds of generations to come.

OBSTACLES TO CROSS

■CULTURAL DIFFERENCE■DIFFERENT VALUES■ALIENT ENVIRONMENT: WILL THE BODY

ADAPT? ■THE LOYALTY TO BRITISH CROWN vs

INDIANIZATION.

Margaret Noble & India

■Early life: Few ideas about India.■1896-7: Participates in Vedanta

movement in England; some news of India.

■Decides to come to India■Swamiji encourages, still points out the

obstacles.

The early days in Kolkata: Knowing India■ Jan, 28, 1898 – Arrives in Kolkata.■ Lives in European quarters, but visits Indian neighborhood.■ Visits girls’ schools.■ 22 Feb, 1898: visit to Dakshineswar: the first taste of conflict: cannot

enter temple, goes to Thakur’s room■ 27 Feb, 1898: meets Gopaler Ma■ Shifts residence to Belur.■ 11 March : 1st public lecture: ■ ‘Yours is the conservatism of a people who have through that long

period been able to preserve the greatest spiritual treasures for the world..’

THE INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN CULTURE■Swamiji would come their place often and

revealed India to his western disciples.

■“In fact, India herself became, as heard in him, the last and the noblest of the Puranas, uttering itself through his lips.”

THE EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE LIFE■ March 17, 1898: Meets Sarada Devi; who

‘eats’ with them.■ March 25, 1898: Diksha & Renaming■ “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”.

■ April 2, 1898: At Mahakali Pathshala with Swami Akhandananda and others.

■ May: the panic of Plague

‘Pilgrimage’ through North India, in the company of Swamiji■ A journey not only of

spiritual revelations but initiation to the of discovery of the soul of India, her history, her culture, fine arts, arts and architecture, her science and contribution to the world and above all, her religion and spirituality.

■ The guru dedicates her to Siva.

The learning process■It was not a smooth journey. ■The future Nivedita, the ‘Lokamata’ of India would be born within the mental and psychological confines of the loyal British subject, Margaret E. Noble. ■Conflicts outside, as well as within, would be severe, demolishing her old self.

The Memsahib among the natives■‘The proud,

reserved, orthodox women of the neighbourhood found in Nivedita a good friend. Full welcome was accorded to her at any time of day or night ….’

Kali revealed herself to her■You see, I cannot but believe

that there is somewhere a great Power That thinks of Herself as feminine and called Kali and Mother….. Vivekananda

■“Kali is the Vision Of Shiva”

THE PLAGUE■People were more panic stricken with the

fresh memories of the atrocities of the government officials in Pune during the plague attack.

■The Ramakrishna Order, led by Swamiji, was determined to face the scourge, and stand by the people.

■Nivedita was involved in the core of these activities; her leadership and love for the Indians would be revealed next year during the ‘plague-seva’.

THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST■June 20th, 1899, Nivedita sailed with

Swamiji for the west. ■This journey was again an opportunity to

rejuvenate her being, with the spirit of Swamiji’s love for India.

■Swamiji instructed her, ■“You have to set yourself to Hinduise your

thoughts, your needs, your conceptions and your habits. … you have to forget your own past and to cause it to be forgotten. You have to lose even its memory.’’

FROM THE EXPLORER TO THE EXPONENTWhat was India to her?

■A country, a geo-political landmass changing with time? ■A British colony ridden with all vices, famine, disaster and diseases? ■ An ever-flowing stream of cultural

identity? ■ A dream to be realized? ■ A living being with a pulsating heart:

The Mother?

WHERE TO SEARCH FOR VALUES? THE EPICS■The Ramayana is not something

that comes once for all from a society that is dead and gone; it is something springing from the living heart of a people.

■Our word to the young Indian today is:

■Make your own Ramayana, not in written stories, but in service and achievement for the motherland.

THE WOMANHOOD THAT TEACHES GREATNESS■ “When the women see themselves in their

true place, as related to the soil on which they live, as related to the past out of which they have sprung; when they become aware of the needs of their own people, on actual colossal scale of those needs; when the mother heart has once awakened in them to beat for land and people, instead of family, village and homestead alone and when the mind is set to explore facts in the service of that heart – then and then alone shall the future of Indian womanhood dawn upon the race in its actual greatness; then shall a worthy education be realized; and then shall the true national ideal stand revealed.”

THE ‘BOSE WAR’

THE TATA SCHEME

■ Sister Nivedita had nurtured the new-born school of art, based on the oriental ideals, from nursery through its infancy, with the sincere affection of a motherly heart till the last days of her life. It will be a disgrace upon the Bengalees, if they do not pay their most respectful homage to this great foreign lady for such sincere efforts”. – Girijashanakar Roychowdhury.

AJANTA

UMA

THE ‘VAJRA’■ “The Selfless Man is the

Thunderbolt. Let us strive only for selflessness, and we become the weapon in the hands of the gods.”

■ “Thunderbolt of present day ….. is multiplied in power, as befits the aspiration that is not of a great man here and there, but of every soul in a vast nation, at the same time.

■ It is India, in all her millions, not a few Indian saints or prophets, who is called today to attain selflessness.”

– Sister Nivedita

“For Infinite man can only be satisfied when his desire is infinite and its fulfilment infinite also..” – Vivekananda

ACHIEVING ‘SELFLESSNESS’

“WE INFINITE DREAMERS, DREAMING FINITE

DREAMS!”

ISN’T THE ‘INFINITE SELF’ BECKONING US?

“Lose ego in love. Lose love in sacrifice for others. So the Beloved becomes the Divine, and the lover forgets self.” -- Nivedita