Vivekānanda and Nivedita as Ardhanārīśvara: Why an Indian Svami Chose an Irishwoman as His Lioness

At the end of the nineteenth century, Irish activist and educator Margaret Elizabeth Noble joined Indian spiritual leader, Svami Vivekānanda, in his mission to restore the past glory of “Mother India” through the renewal of Indian spiritual consciousness. Rather than examining these individuals separately, as previous research has done, this paper explores the origins of the unique and sometimes controversial partnership between Vivekānanda, and Noble—later called Nivedita. Emphasis is placed on why Noble was chosen, and how gender, sexuality, nationality, and social activism, as well as colonially influenced gender-based politics, influenced that decision. Special attention is given to the Hindu concepts of Ardhanārīśvara (“Lord Who is Half-Woman”), brahmacharya (celibacy), and Kālī worship, and how those concepts further shaped the parameters of their guru-disciple relationship.