The Potency of Perfect Chastity

Abstract

Towards the end of the South African period Gandhi’s ideas about brahmacharya took shape, and he summarised them in his essay in the series ‘General Knowledge about Health’ under the title ‘An Intimate Chapter’. Nature has bestowed upon man a mysterious power, the generative fluid, which is a source of great physical and mental strength. Brahmacharya is the means of conserving that treasure by keeping the body and the mind free from all carnal enjoyment. The violation of chastity gradually leads to a decline of the body, the loss of mental capacity, and is the basic cause of all kinds of moral evil. Everyone should aspire to that virtue: those who are married should only have sexual relations when they desire progeny. Brahmacharya meant great physical, mental, and moral power.¹ Gandhi became convinced that ‘Those who want to become passive resisters for the service of the country have to observe perfect chastity.’²