every day!' she said.
The Swami gave the money to Swami Trigunatita to defray the initial expenses of the
newly started Bengali magazine, the Udbodhan.
But of all Swami Vivekananda's Western disciples, the most remarkable was Margaret
E Noble, who was truly his spiritual daughter. She had attended the Swami's classes
and lectures in London and resolved to dedicate her life to his work in India. When she
expressed to him her desire to come to India, the Swami wrote to her, on July 29, 1897:
'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. India cannot yet produce great women, she must
borrow them from other nations. Your education, sincerity, purity, immense love,
determination, and above all, your Celtic blood, makes you just the woman wanted.
'Yet the difficulties are many. You cannot form any idea of the misery, the superstition,
and the slavery that are here. You will be in the midst of a mass of half-naked men and
women with quaint ideas of caste and isolation, shunning the white-skins through fear
or hatred and hated by them intensely. On the other hand, you will be looked upon by
the white as a crank, and every one of your movements will be watched with suspicion.
'Then the climate is fearfully hot, our winter in most places being like your summer,
and in the south it is always blazing. Not one European comfort is to be had in places
out of the cities. If in spite of all this you dare venture into the work, you are welcome,
a hundred times welcome. As for me, I am nobody here as elsewhere, but what little
influence I have shall be devoted to your service.
'You must think well before you plunge in, and afterwards if you fail in this or get
disgusted, on my part I promise you I will stand by you unto death, whether you work
for India or not, whether you give up Vedanta or remain in it. "The tusks of the
elephant come out but never go back" — so are the words of a man never retracted. I
promise you that.'
He further asked her to stand on her own feet and never seek help from his other
Western women devotees.
Miss Noble came to India on January 28, 1898, to work with Miss Müller for the
education of Indian women. The Swami warmly introduced her to the public of
Calcutta as a 'gift of England to India,' and in March made her take the vow of
brahmacharya, that is to say, the life of a religious celibate devoted to the realization of
God. He also gave her the name of Nivedita, the 'Dedicated,' by which she has ever
since been cherished by the Indians with deep respect and affection. The ceremony was
performed in the chapel of the monastery. He first taught her how to worship Siva and
then made the whole ceremony culminate in an offering at the feet of Buddha.