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Key to Health

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Mohandas K. Gandhi
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\begin{center}
\large{Translated from Gujarati by\\
Sushila Nayar}

\vspace{5ex}
\large{Original editor \& publisher (1948):\\
Jitendra T. Desai\\
Navajivan Publishing House\\
Ahmedabad 380014\\
India}

\vspace{10ex}
\par \large{Published by Yann FORGET\\
on \today, with \LaTeXe{}.}

\vspace{5ex}
\large{ISBN 81-7229-071-3}
\end{center}

\tableofcontents

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}A Word by the Publisher]{A Word by the Publisher}

\par Gandhiji wrote these chapters while he was confined in the Aga
Khan Palace at Poona during 1942-1944. As the manuscript indicates he
began to pen them on 27-8-1942 and completed them on 18-12-1942. To
him the subject was so important that he hesitated to release them
at once, and took time to go through them again and again till the
treatment was to his full satisfaction. He intended to correct these
chapters if his ever-growing experience so dictated. The original
was written in Gujarati and Gandhiji got it translated into
Hindustani and English by Dr. Sushila Nayar under his own guidance.
He also went through both the translations to give them the final touches.

\par The reader can therefore take the translation as Gandhiji's own
rendering of what he wished to convey to his people and to the
world on the vital question of health. To him the study of this
question was part of the service of God and His creation which was
his mission.

\begin{flushright}
2-10-1948
\end{flushright}

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Preface]{Preface}

\par For the benefit of the readers of the Indian Opinion (South Africa), I
wrote a few articles under the heading Guide to Health in or about the year
1906. These were later published in book form. I found that it was known to the
Indian public. But copies were not available in India. The late Swami
Akhandanand asked for my permission to publish an Indian edition. The
enterprise proved very popular. The book was translated into several Indian
languages. An English translation also appeared. This reached the West, and was
translated into several European languages. The result was that the book became
the most popular of all my writings. I have never been able to understand the
reason for this popularity. I had written those articles casually, and I did
not attach much importance to them. But perhaps the reason for the popularity
is to be sought in the fact that I have looked upon the problem of health from
a novel point of view, somewhat different from the orthodox methods adopted by
doctors and vaidyas. Whether my presumption is correct or not, many friends
have been pressing me to publish a new edition, putting forth my views to date.
I have never been able to revise the original. I have never had the time for
it. The present enforced rest offers me such an opportunity and I am taking
advantage of it. I have not even got the original with me. The experience of so
many years cannot but have left its mark upon my thought. But those who have
read the original book will notice that there is no fundamental difference
between my ideas of today and those of 1906. But my mind is responsive.
Therefore, whatever change the reader my find will, I hope, be in the nature of
a progress.

\par I am giving a new name: Key to Health. Anyone who observes the rules of
health mentioned in this book will find that he has got in it a real key to
unlock the gates leading him to health. He will not need to knock at the doors
of doctors or vaidyas from day to day.

\begin{flushright}
Aga Khan Palace,
Yeravda,
27-8-1942
\end{flushright}

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Subject Index]{Subject Index}

\par [This synopsis of the topics discussed in the book was prepared
by Gandhiji himself in the original Gujarati during his leisure. To
preserve it as an indication of his deep interest in the subject and
of his characteristic of taking immense pains in whatever work he
undertook, we have thought it proper to include it in the English
translation in place of an index at the end. That it is fully
exhaustive is evident even at a mere glance. J. D.]

PART I

1.  THE HUMAN BODY                                              1-3

\par The human body in health page 1; Prize fighters and health 1; Human
activity and the ten senses 2; The eleventh sense 2; The human body is the
universe in miniature 2; Happy working of the human machine 2; What is the use
of the human body? 3; Human body ? a temple for the spirit to live in 3; Human
body a mine of dirt 3; Human body for service 3

2.  AIR                                                         3-5

\par Air 3; Oxygen 4; Necessity of proper ventilation 4; Breathing through the
mouth 4; Breathing through the nose 4; Breathing exercise 4; Cleaning the nose
4; Drawing water through the nostrils 4; Sleeping in the open 5; How to cover
the body 5; Night clothes 5; The air around us 5; The choice of a suitable
locality 5

3.  WATER                                                       5-6

\par How much water or liquid food during 24 hours? 5; Drinking water must be
pure 5; Water from wells, rivers and tanks 5-6; Role of water with regard to
health 6; Boiled water 6; Water and religion 6

4. FOOD                                                        6-14

\par Nourishment of the body 6; Categories of food 6; Flesh foods 6;
Milk-animal food 6; Sterile eggs 7; Milk and sterile eggs 7; Milk and sterile
eggs same kind of food 7; Medical opinion about diet 7; Man ?a vegetarian 7;
Fruits ?Fresh and dry 7; Milk, curds and butter ?necessary for the human body
7; Consequences of exclusion of milk from my diet 7; My vow of not taking milk
7; Goat's milk 7; The letter and spirit of the vow 8; Necessity of milk in diet
8; Drawbacks of milk 8; Domesticated animals hardly perfectly healthy 8;
Apparently healthy animals in fact diseased 8; Boiled milk for safety 8; Cattle
slaughtered for meat 9; Man's main worry 9; Balanced diet 9; Food needs of the
human body 9; Tissue building substances 9; Meat and milk 9; Skimmed milk 9;
Function of milk 9; Wheat, rice, juwar and other cereals 10; One cereal at a
time 10; Extra strain upon digestion 10; Wheat ?king among cereals 10; Flour
with bhusi or pericarp 10; Food value of bhusi 10; Pericarp of the rice grain
10; Limit of pounding rice 10; Polishing why popular 10; Food value of rice
polishing 10; Rice chapatis or cakes 11; Dipping chapati in dal gravy ?not
healthy 11; Advangates of proper mastication 11; Pulses 11; Food without pulses
11; Milk and pulses for whom 11; Varieties of pulses --- difficult and easy to
digest 11; Flesh food and pulses 11; Vegetables and fruits 11; A slur on the
administration of India 11; Green vegetables for villagers 11; Land legislation
bad from villagers' standpoint 12; Leafy vegetables 12; Starch-supplying
vegetables 12; Vegetables serving as cereals 12; Certain vegetables to be eaten
raw 12; Best time for taking fruits 12; Banana 12; Milk and banana make a
perfect meal 12; Ghee and oil 12; Amount of ghee to be taken per day 12; Sweet
oil; groundnut oil and cocoa-nut oil 12; Oil and ghee sold in the bazar
generally useless 12; Brown and white sugar 13; Proper proportion of daily
intake of sugar 13; Sweet foods 13; Taking sweets equivalent to robbery 13;
Fried foods 13; Puris and Laddus etc. Englishmen and our customary food 13;
Hunger and relish 13; How often and how much to eat 13; Food should be taken as
medicine 13; Satisfaction of real hunger gives relish or pleasurable feeling
13; What does the system require? 13; Parents and children 13; Mother's food
during pregnancy affects the child 13-14; Food for men of sedentary habits 14;
Salts 14; How often should one eat 14

5. CONDIMENTS                                                  15-16

\par Salt 15; Salts destroyed by cooking 15; Several condiments not required
for the human body 15; Chillies, Pepper, mustard, methi etc. 15; Condiments as
medicines 15; A vitiated palate 15; Premature death by chillies 15; Negroes
will not touch condiments 16; Englishmen and condiments 16

6. TEA, COFFEE AND COCOA                                       16-17

\par Tea, coffee and cocoa 16; The use of tea originated in China 16; Use of
tea started as a test of boiled water 16; How to prepare tea 16; The harmful
way 16; Tannin in tea 16; Effect of tannin on the stomach and intestines 16;
Tea drinking and ailments resulting from it 16; Boiled hot water mixed with
milk and sugar 16; Tea and coffee and cocoa 17; Coffee and cocoa giving up by
the author 17; Vegetable soup in place of tea 17; Hot water, honey and lemon
make a healthy drink 17

7. INTOXICANTS                                                 17-20

\par Intoxicants 17; Intoxicants used in India; alcohol, bhag, ganja, tobacco
and opium 17; Country-made liquor and arak 17; Alcohol makes a man forget
himself 17; He loses all sense of decency and propriety 17; Limited and
regulated consumption of alcohol useful? 17; Tadi and the Parsis 18; Tadi a
food? Fresh Khajuri juice known as nira 18; Nira a laxative 18; Food value of
nira 18; Nira in place of tea 18; Jaggery from palm juice 18; Nira gets
fermented very quickly 18; Palm jaggery can well replace sugar-cane jaggery 18;
Palm jaggery less sweet 18; Cheap sugar for the poor 18; Jaggery can be
converted into refined sugar 18; Jaggery and refined sugar 18; Foodstuffs
richer in their natural states 19; Bitter experience of the evils of drinks 19;
Indentured labourers and drinking 19; The law regarding liquor in South Africa
19; Liquor and African Negroes 19; An Englishman who was an addict 19; Princes
and liquor 19; Princes and the rich youth 19; Liquor ruins physically, morally
and intellectually 20

8. OPIUM                                                      20-21

\par Alcohol and opium 20; Opium makes the addict dull and lazy 20; The evil
effects of opium 20; Devastating effects in Assam and Orissa 20; Opium and
China 20; Opium addict will stoop to anything to procure it 20; The Opium War
20; China and the opium from India 20; The English and the opium trade 20;
Revenue from opium 20; English agitation against the immoral trade 20; Place of
opium in Materia Medica 20; Impossible to do without it as a drug 20; Opium a
well-known poison 21

9. TOBACCO                                                    21-23

\par Tobacco has worked havoc among mankind 21; Tolstoy has called it the worst
of all intoxicants 21; Tobacco smoking an expensive habit 21; Smokers callous
of other's feeling 21; Non-smokers cannot bear the smell of tobacco smoke 21;
Smoking in railways, trams etc. 21; Tobacco and the dirty habit of spitting 21;
Tobacco kills finer feelings 21; A character of Tolstoy 21; How he committed a
ghastly murder under the influence of tobacco 22; All smokers not bad men 22;
What Tolstoy perhaps meant 22; Three forms of the tobacco habit in India 22;
Smoking chewing and snuffing 22; Chewing the dirtiest 22; A Gujarati popular
saying ?all three equally guilty 22; sensible chewers 22; Vast majority
unabashedly soil all places 22; Dangers to smokers 22; Snuffers soil their
clothes 22; Lovers of health must shed the slavery of all three 22; All the
three most dirty habits 23

10. BRAHMACHARYA                                              23-29

\par Brahmacharya 23; Self-restraint and the realization of the self 23;
Brahmacharya as ordinarily understood 23; Brahmacharya and control over the
sexual instinct 23; A brahmachari should be free from anger 23; The so-called
brahmacharis 23; Disregard of the ordinary rules of brahmacharya 23; Mere
abstention from sexual intercourse not brahmacharya 23; Brahmacharya and desire
for intercourse 23; True control over the sexual organ 23; Brahmacharya
bespeaks of possession of vital force 23; Brahmacharya and company of women 24;
A brahmachari and distinction between men and distinction between men and women
24; Brahmacharya and licentiousness 24; Brahmacharya and conception of beauty
24; How a brahmachari behaves 24; Brahmachari's sexual organs 24; Brahmachari
and impotence 24; An impotent man not free from sexual desire 24; Sublimation
24; A true brahmachari rare to find 24; Brahmacharya and the author 24; The
author's experiments 24-25; Brahmacharya and conservation of sexual secretions
25; The power of the vital fluid 25; True use of the vital fluid 25; Marriage
and sexual intercourse 25; Married brahmacharis 25; Result of intercourse
performed as a duty 25; Common experience and progress 25-26; What is true of
things physical also true of things spiritual 26; Men and women in the early
days mated promiscuously like animals 26; Discovery of the law of
self-restraint 26; Investigation of the possibilities of the law of
self-restraint 26; Conservation of the vital fluid natural 26; Food and the
vital fluid 26; Little food necessary to keep fit 26; Effects of natural wear
and tear 26; A brahmachari's intellectual capacities 26; Conservation of vital
energy, key to health 26; Rules of conservation of vital force 26; Root of
sexual desire in thought 26; Japa and conservation of vital force 27; Thoughts,
reading and talking 27; Control over speaking 27; Avoid erotic literature 27;
Refreshing sleep 27; Brisk walking in the open best form of exercise 27; How to
walk 27; Laziness ?enemy of self-restraint 27; keep hands and feet, eyes and
ears healthily occupied 27; A man becomes what he eats 27; Control the palate
and the senses are controlled 27; Body not meant to be a refuse bin 28;
Realization of God 28; How man should look upon woman 28; How woman should look
upon man 28; Real desire for brahmacharya 28; The effort for Brahmacharya a joy
in itself 28; A few words about contraceptives 28; The practice of preventing
progeny not new 28; Contraceptives kill the desire for self-restraining 28;
Read Self-Restraint v. Self-Indulgence 29; Avoid contraceptives as poison 29;
True conjugal love 29; The joy of true renunciation 29

PART II

1.   EARTH                                                     30-33

\par Earth 30; Science of natural therapeutics 30; Dr. Pranjivan Mehta 30;
Author's loss of sense of well being 30; Drugs did the author no good 30; Faith
in medicine began to fail 30; Habit of long walks stood the author in good
stead 31; Just's Return to Nature 31; Use of earth 31; Constipation and mud
poultice 31; How to make a mud poultice 31; Fruit-salt 31; Castor oil 31; Size
of mud poultice 31; Mud can cure snake bite 31; Mud poultice relieves headache
in most cases 31; Mud poultice cures ordinary boils 31; Mud poultice prepared
in potassium permanganate lotion 31; Use of earth on a wasp sting 31; Use of
earth of scorpion bite 31-32; Scorpion ?a nuisance in Sevagram 31-32;
Application of mud poultice in high fever 32; Use of earth in typhoid fever 32;
Experience of typhoid in Sevagram 32; Mud poultice a substitute for
antiphlogistine 32; A little oil and salt with mud serves as antiphlogistine
32; kinds of clay 32; Clean earth emits a delicate smell 32; Problem of getting
earth in cities 32; Sticky earth no good 32; Gritty earth equally bad 32; Never
use earth from manured soil 32; Heat earth to sterilise it 32; Same poultice
can be used often 32; How to obtain clean clay 32; Mud from the Jumna bank 33;
Eating earth to help relieve constipation 33

2. WATER                                                      33-40

\par Hydrotherapy 33; Kuhne and Andhra 33; Kuhne's hip bath 33; Kuhne's sitz
bath 33; Proper size of the tub 33; Ice may be used to cool water 33; Vigorous
fannig to cool water 33- 34; Tub kept against the bathroom wall 34; How to sit
in the tub 34; How to apply friction 34; Hip bath brings down temperature 34;
Hip bath reduces constipation 34; Bath should not be given on a full stomach
34; A brisk walk after bath 34; Bath efficacious in hyperpyrexia 34; Kuhne on
the real cause of fever 34; Hip bath and fever 34; Medical profession and
naturopathy 34-35; Nature cure methods can be safely practised by laymen 35;
Cold water and headache 35; Friction bath and the organ of reproduction35;
There is something illusive about the sensitiveness of glans penis and the
foreskin 35; Method of friction bath 36; The friction bath and the cleansing of
the sexual organ 36; Keeping the sexual organ clean makes the observance of
brahmacharya comparatively easier 36; Cleansing the sexual organ makes the
seminal emissions less likely 36; Wet sheet packs very useful in pyrexia and
insomnia 36; The method of giving wet sheet packs 36-37; The results of wet
sheet pack ?sleep, fall in temperature 37; Wet sheet pack and pneumonia 37; Wet
sheet pack and typhoid 37; Wet sheet packs also useful in the treatment of
prickly heat, urticaria, skin irritation, measles, smallpox etc. 37; The sheet
used should be sterilised and washed with soap and water 38; Ice massage and
circulation of blood 38; Therapeutics of hot water 38; Hot water as effective
as iodine in cases of ear ache and other injuries 38; Use of iodine attended
with risks 38; Hot water relieves pain to a certain extent in cases of scorpion
bite 38; Hot boiling water subsides a shivering fit or rigour 38-39; Steam ?a
valuable therapeutic agent 39; Steam baths most useful in rheumatism and other
joint pains 39; Method of taking steam bath 39; Steam and angithi 39; Neem
leaves or other herbs and steam 39; Steam gives relief in cases of aching of
legs, common cold and sore throat 39-40

3.   AKASH (Ether?)                                            40-43

\par Akash a difficult word to translate 40; Akash and God 41; Should not put
any partition between ourselves and the sky 41; Akash and cleanliness 42; Akash
and simplicity 42; Akash and health 42; Sleeping in the open 42; Akash and food
42; Nature and fasting 43

4.   SUN                                                       43-44

\par Man cannot do without sunlight 43; Sunbath 43; Morning sun an all-round
tonic 44; Sunbath and diseases 44; Mud poultice, banana or other leaves used to
protect the head from the strong sunlight during sunbath 44

5.   AIR                                                       44-45

\par See chapter 2, Part I.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}To the Reader]{To the Reader}

\par I would like to say to the diligent reader of my writings and
to others who are interested in them that I am not at all concerned
with appearing to be consistent. In my search after Truth I have
discarded many ideas and learnt many new things. Old as I am in
age, I have no feeling that I have ceased to grow inwardly or that
my growth will stop at the dissolution of the flesh. What I am
concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God,
from moment to moment, and, therefore, when anybody finds any
inconsistency between any two writings of mine, if he has still
faith in my sanity, he would do well to choose the later of the two
on the same subject.

\begin{flushright}
Harijan, 29-4-'33, p. 2\\
M. K. Gandhi
\end{flushright}

\part[Key to Health]{Key to Health}%PART I

\renewcommand{\thechapter}{\arabic{chapter}.}
\setcounter{chapter}{0}

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}The Human Body]{The Human Body}

\par It is necessary to understand the meaning of the word health,
before entering upon a description of the human body. In health,
means body ease. He is a healthy man whose body is free from all
disease; he carries on his normal activities without fatigue. Such a
man should be able with ease to walk ten to twelve miles a day, and
perform ordinary physical labour without getting tired. He can
digest ordinary simple food. His mind and his senses are in state of
harmony and poise. This definition does not include prize fighters
and such like. A man with extraordinary physical strength is not
necessarily healthy. He has merely developed his musculature,
possibly at the expense of something else.

\par It is necessary to have enough knowledge of the human body which
is expected to attain the above standard of health.

\par God alone knows what kind of education was prevalent in ancient
times. Research workers on the subject may be able to tell us
something, but only something, about it. But all of us have some
experience of modern education in this country. It has no relation
with our everyday life. Thus, it leaves us almost utterly ignorant
about our own body. Our knowledge of our own village and our fields
shares a similar fate. We are taught on the other hand, much about
things that have no bearing on our daily life. I do not mean to say
that such knowledge is of no use. But everything has its own place.
We must first know enough of our own body, our own house, our
village and its surroundings, the crops that grow there and its
history before going on to anything else. General knowledge
broad-based on this primary knowledge, alone can enrich life.


\par The human body is composed of what the ancient philosophers have
described as the five elements. These are earth, water, vacancy,
light and air.

\par All human activity is carried on by means of the mind aided by
the ten senses. These are the five senses of action, i.e., hands,
feet, mouth, anus and the genitals, and the five senses of
perception, i.e. the sense of touch through the skin, of smell
through the nose, of taste through the tongue, of seeing through the
eyes and 2of hearing through the ears. Thinking is the function of
the mind and some people have called it the eleventh sense. In
health all the senses and the mind act in perfect co-ordination.

\par The inner working of the human machine is wonderful. The human
body is the universe in miniature. That which cannot be found in the
body is not to be found in the universe. Hence the philosopher's
formula, that the universe within reflects the universe without. It
follows therefore that if our knowledge of our own body could be
perfect we would know the universe. But even the very best of
doctors and hakims and vaids have not been able to acquire it. It
will be presumptuous for a layman to aspire to it. No one has yet
discovered an instrument which can give us any information about the
human mind. Scientists have given attractive descriptions of the
activities going on within and without the body, but no one can say
what sets the wheel going. Who can explain the why and wherefore of
death or foretell its time? In short, after infinite reading and
writing, after infinite experience, man has come to know how little
he knows.

\par A happy working of the human machine depends upon the harmonious
activity of the various component parts. If all these work in an
orderly manner, the machine runs smoothly. If even one of the
essential parts is out of order, it comes to a stop. For instance,
if the digestion is out of order, the whole body becomes slack.
Therefore, he who takes indigestion and constipation lightly does
not know the a-b-c of the rules of health. These two are the root
cause of innumerable ailments.

\par The question that demands our attention next is: what is
the use of the human body? Everything in the world can be used and
abused. This applies to the body also. We abuse it when we use it
for selfish purposes, for self-indulgence or in order to harm
another. It is put to its right use if we exercise self-restraint
and dedicate ourselves to the service of the whole world. The human
soul is a part of the universal spirit or God. When all our activity
is directed towards the realization of this link, the body becomes a
temple worthy for the spirit to live in.

\par The body has been described as a mine of dirt. Looked at in its
proper perspective, there is no exaggeration in this statement. If
the body was nothing else but this, there could be no point in
taking such pains to look after it. But if this so-called mine of
dirt can be put to its proper use, it becomes our first duty to
cleanse it and keep it in a fit condition. The mines of precious
stones and gold also have the look of ordinary earth on the surface.
The knowledge that there are gold and precious stones underneath,
induces men to spend millions and engage scientific brains in order
to get at what lies in those mines. Similarly, we cannot take too
much pains over keeping in a fit condition the temple of the spirit
? the human body.

\par Man came into the world in order to pay off the debt owed by him
to it, that is to say, in order to serve God and (or through) His
creation. Keeping this point of view in front of him, man acts as a
guardian of his body. It becomes his duty to take such care of his
body as to enable it to practise the ideal of service to the best of
its ability.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Air]{Air}

\par No one can live without air as one can without water for a few
days and without food much longer. Therefore, nature has surrounded
us with air on all sides so that we can get it without any effort.


\par We take in air through the nose into our lungs. The lungs act as
a sort of bellows. The atmospheric air which we breathe in has a
life-giving substance ?a gas known as oxygen. The air that we
breathe out contains poisonous gases. These can kill us if they are
not immediately allowed to spread out and get diluted by the
atmospheric air. Hence the necessity of proper ventilation.

\par The air comes into close contact with blood in the lungs and
purifies it. Many people do not know the art of breathing. This
defect prevents an adequate purification of their blood. Some people
breathe through the mouth instead of through the nose. This is a bad
habit. Nature has so designed the nose that it acts as a sort of
filter for the ingoing air and also warms it. In mouth breathers the
atmospheric air reaches the lungs without the preliminary filtration
or warming. It follows therefore that those who do not know how to
breathe should take breathing exercises. They are as easy to learn
as they are useful. I do not wish to go into a discussion of the
various asans or postures. I do not mean to say that these are not
important or useful. But I do wish to emphasise that a
well-regulated life outweighs the advantage of studying and
practising elaborate postures or exercises. Any comfortable posture
that ensures breathing through the nose and free chest expansion is
enough for our purpose.

\par If we keep the mouth tightly closed, the breathing will have to
be carried out by the nose. Just as we wash our mouth every morning,
the nose should also be cleaned. Clean water, cold or lukewarm, is
the best agent for that purpose. It should be taken in a cup or in
the plam of the hand and drawn up through the nostrils. It is
possible to draw the water up through one nostril, the other
remaining closed, and expel it through the other by opening it and
closing the former. The process should be carried out gently so as
to avoid discomfort. In order to cleanse the back portion of the
nose known as nasopharynx, water should be brought out by the mouth
or even swallowed.


\par We must see that the air that we breathe in is fresh. It is good
to cultivate the habit of sleeping in the open under the stars. The
fear of catching a chill should be dismissed from the minds. Cold
can be kept out by plenty of covering. This covering should not
extend beyond the neck. If cold is felt on the head, it can be
covered with a separate piece of cloth. The opening of the
respiratory passage ?the nose ?should never be covered up.

\par The day clothes should be changed for loose night clothes before
retiring. As a matter of fact no clothes are necessary at night when
one sleeps covered with a sheet. Tight-fitting clothes should be
avoided even during the day.

\par The atmospheric air around us is not always pure, neither is it
the same in every country. The choice of the country does not always
lie in our hands but the choice of a suitable house in a suitable
locality does rest with us to some extent. The general rule should
be to live in a locality which is not too congested and insist upon
the house being well --- lighted and well --- ventilated.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Water]{Water}

\par Next to air, water is a necessity of life. We cannot live
without it for more than a few days, just as without air we cannot
live for more than a few minutes. Therefore, as in the case of air,
nature has provided us with ample amount of water. Man, cannot live
on barren land where there is no water. Vast tracts of desert land
lie utterly uninhabited.

\par In order to keep healthy, everyone should take 5 lbs. of water
or other liquid food in 24 hours. Drinking water must be pure. In
many places it is difficult to get pure water. There is always risk
in drinking well water. The water of shallow wells, and even deep
wells with a staircase leading down to the water level, should be
considered absolutely unfit for drinking purposes. The difficulty is
that the appearance and
even the taste of water are no guide to its purity. Water which
appears perfectly harmless to look at and to taste, can act as
poison. The old custom of not drinking from an unknown well or from
a stranger's house is worth copying.

\par In Bengal almost every house has a kachcha tank attached to it.
As a rule the water of these is unfit for drinking purposes. River
water also is frequently not fit for drinking, particularly where
the river is used for navigation or where it passes by a big city
and receives its drainage and sewage water.

\par In spite of what I have said, I know there are millions of
people who have to drink what I have described as impure water. But
that does not mean that their example is worthy of being copied.
Nature has provided us with sufficient reserve of vitality. But for
that, man would have long ago disappeared from the face of the earth
because of his own mistakes and transgressions of the rules of
health.

\par Here we are concerned merely with the role of water with regard
to health. Wherever we are doubtful about the purity of water, it
should be boiled before drinking. In practice it amounts to this
that everyone should carry his drinking water with him. Many
orthodox Hindus in India do not drink water whilst travelling on
account of religious prejudices. Surely, the enlightened can do for
the sake of health what the un-enlightened do in the name of
religion!

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Food]{Food}

\par Whilst it is true that man cannot live without air and water,
the thing that nourishes the body is food. Hence the saying, food is
life.

\par Food can be divided into three categories: vegetarian, flesh and
mixed. Flesh foods include fowl and fish. Milk is an animal product
and cannot by any means be included in a strictly vegetarian diet.
It serves the purpose of meat to a very
large extent. In medical language it is classified as animal food. A
layman does not consider milk to be animal food. On the other hand,
eggs are regarded by the layman as a flesh food. In reality, they
are not. Nowadays sterile eggs are also produced. The hen is not
allowed to see the cock and yet it lays eggs. A sterile egg never
develops into a chick. Therefore, he who can take milk should have
no objection to taking sterile eggs.

\par Medical opinion is mostly in favour of a mixed diet, although
there is a growing school, which is strongly of the opinion that
anatomical, and physiological evidence is in favour of man being a
vegetarian. His teeth, his stomach, intestines etc. seem to prove
that nature has meant man to be a vegetarian.

\par Vegetarian diet, besides grains, pulses, edible roots, tubers
and leaves, includes fruits, both fresh and dry. Dry fruit includes
nuts like almonds, pistachio, walnut etc.

\par I have always been in favour of pure vegetarian diet. But
experience has taught me that in order to keep perfectly fit,
vegetarian diet must include milk and milk products such as curds,
butter, ghee etc. This is a significant departure from my original
idea. I excluded milk from my diet for six years. At that time, I
felt none the worse for the denial. But in the year 1917, as a
result of my own ignorance, I was laid down with severe dysentery. I
was reduced to a skeleton, but I stubbornly refused to take any
medicine and with equal stubbornness refused to take milk or
buttermilk. But I could not build up my body and pick up sufficient
strength to leave the bed. I had taken a vow of not taking milk. A
medical friend suggested that at the time of taking the vow, I could
have had in mind only the milk of the cow and buffalo; why should
the vow prevent me from taking goat's milk? My wife supported him
and I yielded. Really, for one who has given up milk, though at the
time of taking the vow only the cow and the buffalo were in mind,
milk should be taboo. All animal milks have practically the same
composition, though the proportion of the components varies in each
case. So I may be said to have kept merely the letter, not the spirit, of the
vow. Be that as it may, goat's milk was produced immediately and I drank it.
It seemed to bring me new life. I picked up rapidly and was soon
able to leave the bed. On account of this and several similar
experiences, I have been forced to admit the necessity of adding
milk to the strict vegetarian diet. But I am convinced that in the
vast vegetable kingdom there must be some kind, which, while
supplying those necessary substances which we derive from milk and
meat, is free from their drawbacks, ethical and other.

\par In my opinion there are definite drawbacks in taking milk or
meat. In order to get meat we have to kill. And we are certainly not
entitled to any other milk except the mother's milk in our infancy.
Over and above the moral drawback, there are others, purely from the
point of view of health. Both milk and meat bring with them the
defects of the animal from which they are derived. Domesticated
cattle are hardly ever perfectly healthy. Just like man, cattle
suffer from innumerable diseases. Several of these are overlooked
even when cattle are subjected to periodical medical examinations.
Besides, medical examination of all the cattle in India seems to be
an impossible feat, at any rate for the present. I am conducting a
dairy at the Sevagram Ashram. I can easily get help from medical
friends. Yet I cannot say with certainty that all the cattle in the
Sevagram Dairy are healthy. On the contrary, a cow that had been
considered to be healthy by everybody was found to be suffering from
tuberculosis. Before this diagnosis was made, the milk of that cow
had been used regularly in the Ashram. The Ashram also takes milk
from the farmers in the neighbourhood. Their cattle have not been
medically examined. It is difficult to determine whether a
particular specimen of milk is safe for consumption or not. We have
to rest content with as much safety as boiling of the milk can
assure us of. If the Ashram cannot boast of fool-proof medical
examination of its cattle, and be certain of the safety of its dairy
products, the situation elsewhere it not likely to be much better.
What applies to the milch cattle
applies to a much greater extent to the animals slaughtered for
meat. As a general rule, man just depends upon luck to escape from
such risks. He does not seem to worry much about his health. He
considers himself to be quite safe in his medical fortress in the
shape of doctors, vaids and hakims. His main worry and concern is
how to get wealth and position in society. This worry overshadows
all the rest. Therefore, so long as some selfless scientist does
not, as a result of patient research work, discover a vegetable
substitute for milk and meat, man will go on taking meat and milk.

\par Now let us consider mixed diet. Man requires food which can
supply tissue building substances to provide for the growth and
daily wear and tear of the body. It should also contain something
which can supply energy, fat, certain salts and roughage to help the
excretion of waste matter. Tissue building substances are known as
proteins. They are obtained from milk, meat, eggs, pulses and nuts.
The proteins contained in milk and meat, in other words, the animal
proteins being more easily digestible and assimilable, are much more
valuable than vegetable proteins. Milk is superior to meat. The
medicos tell us that in cases where meat cannot be digested, milk is
digested quite easily. For vegetarians milk being the only source of
animal proteins, is a very important article of diet. The proteins
in raw eggs are considered to be the most easily digestible of all
proteins.

\par But everybody cannot afford to drink milk. And milk is not
available in every place. I would like to mention here a very
important fact with regard to milk. Contrary to the popular belief,
skimmed milk is a very valuable article of diet. There are times
when it proves even more useful than whole milk. The chief function
of milk is to supply animal proteins for tissue building and tissue
repair. Skimming while it partially removes the fats, does not
affect the proteins at all. Moreover, the available skimming
instruments cannot remove all the fat from milk. Neither is there
any likelihood of such an instrument being constructed.


\par The body requires other things besides milk, whole or skimmed. I
give the second place to cereals ?wheat, rice, juwar, bajri etc.
These are used as the staple diet. Different cereals are used as
staple in different provinces of India. In many places, more than
one kind of cereals are eaten at the same time, for instance, small
quantities of wheat, bajri and rice are often served together. This
mixture is not necessary for the nourishment of the body. It makes
is difficult to regulate the quantity of food intake, and puts an
extra strain upon digestion. As all these varieties supply starch
mainly, it is better to take one only, at a time. Wheat may well be
described as the king among the cereals. If we glance at world map,
we find that wheat occupies the first place. From the point of view
of health, if we can get wheat, rice and other cereals become
unnecessary. If wheat is not available and juwar etc. cannot be
taken on account of dislike or difficulty in digesting them, rice
has to be resorted to.

\par The cereals should be properly cleansed, ground on a grinding
stone, and the resulting flour used as it is. Sieving of the flour
should be avoided. It is likely to remove the bhusi or the pericarp
which is a rich source of salts and vitamins, both of which are most
valuable from the point of view of nutrition. The pericarp also
supplies roughage, which helps the action of the bowels. Rice grain
being very delicate, nature has provided it with an outer covering
or epicarp. This is not edible. In order to remove this inedible
portion, rice has to be pounded. Pounding should be just sufficient
to remove the epicarp or the outer skin of the rice grain. But
machine pounding not only removes the outer skin, but also polishes
the rice by removing its pericarp. The explanation of the popularity
of polished rice lies in the fact that polishing helps preservation.
The pericarp is very sweet and unless it is removed, rice is easily
attacked by certain organisms. Polished rice and wheat without its
pericarp, supply us with almost pure starch. Important constituents
of the cereals are lost with the removal of the pericarp. The
pericarp of rice is sold as rice polishing. This and the pericarp of wheat can
be cooked and eaten by themselves. They can be also made into chapatis or
cakes. It is possible that rice chapatis may be more easily digestible than
whole rice and in this form a lesser quantity may result in full satisfaction.

\par We are in the habit of dipping each morsel of the chapati in
vegetable or dal gravy before eating it. The result is that most
people swallow their food without proper mastication. Mastication is
an important step in the process of digestion, especially that of
starch. Digestion of starch begins on its coming into contact with
saliva in the mouth. Mastication ensures a thorough mixing of food
with saliva. Therefore, starchy foods should be eaten in a
relatively dry from, which results in a greater flow of saliva and
also necessitates their thorough mastication.

\par After the starch supplying cereals come the protein supplying
pulses ? beans, lentils etc. Almost everybody seems to think that
pulses are an essential constituent of diet. Even meat eaters must
have pulses. It is easy to understand that those who have to do hard
manual work and who cannot afford to drink milk, cannot do without
pulses. But I can say without any hesitation whatsoever that those
who follow sedentary occupations as for instance, clerks,
businessmen, lawyers, doctors, teachers and those who are not too
poor to buy milk, do not require pulses. Pulses are generally
considered to be difficult to digest and are eaten in a much smaller
quantity than cereals. Out of the varieties of pulses, peas, gram
and haricot beans are considered to be the most and mung and masoor
(lentils) the least difficult to digest.

\par Vegetables and fruits should come third on our list. One would
expect them to be cheap and easily available in India. But it is not
so. They are generally considered to be delicacies meant for the
city people. In the villages fresh vegetables are a rarity, and in
most places fruit is also not available. This shortage of greens and
fruits is a slur on the administration of India. The villagers can
grow plenty of green vegetables if they wish to. The question of
fruit cannot be solved so easily. The land legislation is bad from the
villager's standpoint. But I am transgressing.

\par Among fresh vegetables, a fair amount of leafy vegetables must
be taken every day. I do not include potatoes, sweet potatoes, suran
etc., which supply starch mainly, among vegetables. They should be
put down in the same category as starch supplying cereals. A fair
helping of ordinary fresh vegetables is advisable. Certain varieties
such as cucumber, tomatoes, mustard and cress and other tender
leaves need not be cooked. They should be washed properly and then
eaten raw in small quantities.

\par As for fruits, our daily diet should include the available
fruits of the season, e.g., mangoes, jambu, guavas, grapes, papaias,
limes ? sweet or sour, oranges, moosambi, etc. should all be used in
their season. The best time for taking fruit is in the early
morning. A breakfast of fruit and milk should give full
satisfaction. Those who take an early lunch may well have a
breakfast of fruit only.

\par Banana is good fruit. But as it is very rich in starch, it takes
the place of bread. Milk and banana make a perfect meal.

\par A certain amount of fat is also necessary. This can be had in
the form of ghee or oil. If ghee can be had, oil becomes
unnecessary. It is difficult to digest and is not so nourishing as
pure ghee. An ounce and a half of ghee per head per day, should be
considered ample to supply the needs of the body. Whole milk also is
a source of ghee. Those who cannot afford it should take enough oil
to supply the need for fat. Among oils, sweet oil, groundnut oil and
cocoa-nut oil should be given preference. Oil must be fresh. If
available, it is better to use hand-pressed oil. Oil and ghee sold
in the bazaar are generally quite useless. It is a matter of great
sorrow and shame. But so long as honesty has not become an integral
part of business morals, whether through legislation or through
education, the individual will have to procure the pure article with
patience and diligence. One should never be satisfied to take what
one can get, irrespective of its quality. It is far better
to do without ghee and oil altogether than to eat rancid oil and
adulterated ghee. As in the case of fats, a certain amount of sugar
is also necessary. Although sweet fruits supply plenty of sugar,
there is no harm in taking one to one and a half ounces of sugar,
brown or white, in the day. If one cannot get sweet fruits, sugar
may become a necessity. But the undue prominence given to sweet
things nowadays is wrong. City folk eat too much of sweet things.
Milk puddings, milk sweets and sweets of other kinds are consumed in
large quantities. They are all unnecessary and are harmful except
when taken in very small quantities. It may be said without any fear
of exaggeration that to partake of sweetmeats and other delicacies,
in a country where the millions do not even get an ordinary full
meal, is equivalent to robbery.

\par What applies to sweets, applies with equal force to ghee and
oil. There is no need to eat food fried in ghee or oil. To use ghee
in making puris and laddus is thoughtless extravagance. Those who
are not used to such food cannot eat these things at all. For
instance, Englishmen on their first coming into our country cannot
eat our sweets and fried foodstuffs. Those that do eat them I have
often seen fall ill. Taste is acquired, not born with us. All the
delicacies of the world cannot equal the relish that hunger gives to
food. A hungry man will eat a dry piece of bread with the greatest
relish, whereas one who is not hungry will refuse the best of
sweetmeats.

\par Now let us consider how often and how much should one eat. Food
should be taken as a matter of duty --- even as a medicine --- to sustain the
body, never for the satisfaction of the palate. Thus, pleasurable feeling comes
from satisfaction of real hunger. Therefore, we can say that relish is
dependent upon hunger and not outside it. Because of our wrong habits and
artificial way of living, very few people know what their system requires. Our
parents who bring us into this world do not, as a rule, cultivate self-control.
Their habits and their way of living influence the children to a certain
extent. The mother's food during pregnancy is bound to affect the child.
After that during childhood, the mother pampers the child with all
sorts of tasty foods. She gives the child a little bit out of
whatever she herself may be eating and the child's digestlive system
gets a wrong training from its infancy. Habits once formed are
difficult to shed. There are very few who succeed in getting rid of
them. But when the realization comes to man that he is his own
bodyguard, and his body has been dedicated to service, he desires to
learn laws of keeping his body in a fit condition and tries hard to
follow them.

\par We have now reached a point when we can lay down the amount of
various foods required by a man of sedentary habits, which most men
and women who will read these pages are.

Cow's milk                                              2 lbs.
Cereals (wheat, rice, bajri, in all)                    6 oz.
Vegetables leafy                                        3 oz.
   "           others                                   5 oz.
   "           raw                                      1 oz.
Ghee                                                    1½ oz.
or Butter                                               2 oz.
Gur or white.sugar                                      1½ oz.

\par Fresh fruit according to one's taste and purse. In any case it
is good to take two sour limes a day. The juice should be squeezed
and taken with vegetables or in water, cold or hot. All these
weights are of raw stuff. I have not put down the amount of salt. It
should be added afterwards according to taste.

\par Now, how often should one eat? Many people take two meals a day.
The general rule is to take three meals: breakfast early in the
morning and before going out to work, dinner at midday and supper in
the evening or later. There is no necessity to have more than three
meals. In the cities some people keep on nibbling from time to time.
This habit is harmful. The digestive apparatus requires rest.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Condiments]{Condiments}

\par I have not said anything about condiments in the last chapter.
Common salt may be rightly counted as the king among condiments.
Many people cannot eat their food without it. The body requires
certain salts and common salt is one of them. These salts occur
naturally in the various foodstuffs but when food is cooked in an
unscientific way, e.g. throwing away the water in which rice,
potatoes or other vegetables have been boiled, the supply becomes
inadequate. The deficiency then has to be made up by a separate
addition of salts. As common salt is one of the most essential salts
for the body, I have said in the last chapter that it might be
supplemented in small quantities.

\par But several condiments are not required by the body as a general
rule, e.g. chillies fresh or dry, pepper, turmeric, coriander,
caraway, mustard, methi, asafoetida, etc. These are taken just for
the satisfaction of the palate. My opinion, based on my personal
experience of fifty years, is that not one of these is needed to
keep perfectly healthy. Those whose digestion has become very feeble
might take these things as medicines for a certain length of time,
if considered necessary. But one should make it a point to avoid
their use for the satisfaction of the palate. All condiments, even
salt, destroy the natural flavour of vegetables and cereals etc.
Those whose palate has not become vitiated enjoy the natural flavour
of the foodstuffs much more than after the addition of salt or other
condiments. That is why I have said that salt should be taken where
necessary as an adjunct. As for chillies, they burn the mouth and
irritate the stomach. Those who are not in the habit of taking
chillies cannot bear them in the beginning. I have seen several
cases of sore mouth caused by the taking of chillies. I know of one
case who was very fond of chillies, and an excessive use resulted in
his premature death. The Negro in South Africa will not touch condiments. He
cannot bear the colour of turmeric in his food. In the same way, Englishmen
also do not readily take to our condiments.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Tea, Coffee and Cacao]{Tea, Coffee and Cacao}%COCOA

\par None of these is required by the body. The use of tea is said
to have originated in China. It has a special use in that country.
As a rule one cannot rely on the purity of drinking water in China
and therefore it must be boiled before use to ensure safety. Some
clever Chinaman discovered a grass called tea which when added to
boiling water in a very small quantity gave it a golden colour. The
colour did not appear unless the water was really boiling. Thus the
grass became an infallible test for seeing when a given quantity of
water was boiled. The way, the test is used, is to put the tea
leaves in a strainer and let the boiling water pass through the
strainer. If the water is boiling it will assume a golden colour.
Another quality of tea leaves is said to be that they impart a
delicate flavour to the water.

\par Tea prepared as above is harmless. But the tea that is generally
prepared and taken has not only nothing to recommend it, it is
actually harmful. The leaves contain tannin which is harmful to the
body. Tannin is generally used in the tanneries to harden leather.
When taken internally it produces a similar effect upon the mucous
lining of the stomach and intestine. This impairs digestion and
causes dyspepsia. It is said that in England innumerable women
suffer from various ailments on account of their habit of drinking
tea which contains tannin. Habitual tea drinkers begin to feel
restless if they do not get their cup at the usual time. In my
opinion, the usefulness of tea, if any, consists in the fact that it
supplies a warm sweet drink which contains some milk. The same
purpose may well be served by taking boiled hot water mixed with a
little milk and sugar.

\par What I have said about tea applies more or less to coffee also.
There is a popular saying about coffee in Hindustani which says,
"Coffee allays cough and relieves flatulence, but it impairs
physical and sexual vigour and makes the blood watery, so that there
are three disadvantages against its two advantages." I do not know
how far the saying is justified.

\par I hold similar opinion with regard to cocoa. Those whose
digestion works normally, do not require the help of tea, coffee or
cocoa. A healthy man can get all the satisfaction that he needs out
of ordinary food. I have freely partaken of all the three. I used to
suffer from one ailment or another while I was using them. By giving
them up I have lost nothing, and have benefited a good deal. I can
get the same satisfaction from a clear vegetable soup that I used to
derive from tea etc. Hot water, honey and lemon make a healthy
nourishing drink, which can well substitute tea or coffee.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Intoxicants]{Intoxicants}

\par The intoxicants used in India might be taken as the following:
alcohol, bhang, ganja, tobacco and opium. Alcohol or liquor includes
the country-made liquor and arak, besides the large quantities of
liquor imported from foreign countries. All these should be strictly
prohibited. Alcohol makes a man forget himself and while its effects
last, he becomes utterly incapable of doing anything useful. Those
who take to drinking, ruin themselves and ruin their people. They
lose all sense of decency and propriety.

\par There is a school who favour limited and regulated consumption
of alcohol and believe it to be useful. I have not found any weight
in their argument. Even if we accept their view for a moment, we
have still to face the fact that innumerable human beings cannot be
kept under discipline. Therefore it becomes our duty to prohibit
alcoholic drinks even if it were only for the sake of this vast
majority.

\par Parsis have strongly supported the use of tadi. They say that
although tadi is an intoxicant it is also a food and even helps to
digest other foodstuffs. I have carefully examined this argument and
have read a fair amount of literature pertaining to this subject.
But I have been a witness of the terrible straits to which tadi
reduces the poor and therefore I have come to the conclusion that it
can have no place in man's food.

\par The advantages, attributed to tadi, are all available from other
foodstuffs. Tadi is made out of khajuri juice. Fresh khajuri juice
is not an intoxicant. It is known as nira in Hindustani and many
people have been cured of their constipation as a result of drinking
nira. I have taken it myself though it did not act as a laxative
with me. I found that it had the same food value as sugarcane juice.
If one drinks a glass of nira in the morning instead of drinking tea
etc., he should not need anything else for breakfast. As in the case
of sugarcane juice, palm juice can be boiled to make palm jaggery.
Khajuri is a variety of palm tree. Several varieties of palm grow
spontaneously in our country. All of them yield drinkable juice. As
nira gets fermented very quickly, it has to be used up immediately
and therefore on the spot. Since this condition is difficult to
fulfil except to a limited extent, in practice, the best use to nira
is to convert it into palm jaggery. Palm jaggery can well replace
sugarcane jaggery. In fact some people prefer it to the latter. One
advantage of palm jaggery over sugarcane jaggery is that it is less
sweet and therefore one can eat more of it. The All India Village
Industries Association has done a great deal to popularise palm
jaggery, but much remains to be done. If the palms that are used for
making tadi are sued for making jaggery, India will never lack sugar
and the poor will be able to get good jaggery for very little money.
Palm jaggery can be converted into molasses and refined sugar. But
the jaggery is much more useful than refined sugar. The salts
present in the jaggery are lost in the process of refining. Just as
refined wheat flour and polished rice lose some of their nutritive
value because of the loss of the pericarp, refined sugar also loses some of the
nutritive value of the jaggery. One may generalise that all foodstuffs are
richer if taken in their natural state as far as possible.

\par Talking of tadi I naturally began to talk of nira and from that I
went on to the topic of jaggery. But let us return to liquor for the
moment.

\par None of the public workers perhaps have the same bitter
experience of the evils of drinks as I have had. In South Africa,
most of the Indians going there as indentured labourers were
addicted to drinking. The law there did not in my time permit
Indians to take liquor to their houses except under a medical
certificate. They could go to the drinking booths and drink as much
as they liked. Even the women had fallen victims to this evil habit.
I have seen them in a most pathetic condition. One who has seen
those scenes near the public bars will never support drinking.

\par Africa Negroes were not given to drinking originally. Liquor may
be said to have simply ruined them. Large numbers of Negro labourers
are seen to waste all their earnings in drinking so that their lives
become devoid of any grace.

\par And what about Englishmen? I have seen respectable Englishmen
falling in the gutter under the effect of alcohol. There is no
exaggeration in this statement. During the war many Englishmen had
to leave the Transvaal. Some of them were taken in my home. One of
them was an engineer and a good man in every way, when not under the
effects of alcohol. He was a theosophist. Unfortunately, he was
addicted to drink and lost all control over himself when he was
drunk. He tried hard to give up the habit, but as far as I know he
never succeeded.

\par On my return from South Africa to India I had a similar painful
experience of the evils of drink. Several Princes have been and are
being ruined by liquor. What applies to them applies more or less to
many a rich youth. The condition of labour as a result of taking
alcohol is also pitiable. That, as a result of such bitter experiences, I have
become a staunch opponent of alcohol, will not surprise the readers.

\par In a nutshell, alcohol ruins one physically, morally,
intellectually and economically.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Opium]{Opium}

\par The criticism levelled against alcohol applies equally to
opium, although the two are very different in their action. Under
the effects of alcohol a person becomes a rowdy, whereas opium makes
the addict dull and lazy. He becomes even drowsy and incapable of
doing anything useful. The evil effects of alcohol strike the eye
every day, but those of opium are not so glaring. Any one wishing to
see its devastating effect should go to Assam or Orissa. Thousands
have fallen victims to this intoxicant, in those provinces. They
give one the impression of living on the verge of death.

\par But China is said to have suffered the most from the evils of
opium. The Chinese possess a better physique than the Indians. But
the Chinese addicted to opium look miserable and more dead than
alive. An opium addict will stoop to anything in order to procure
his dose of opium.

\par Several years ago, what is known as the Opium War took place
between China and Great Britain. China did not wish to buy opium
from India. But the English wanted to impose it on China. India was
also to blame in that several Indians had taken opium contracts in
India. The trade paid well and the treasury received crores of
rupees as opium revenue. This was obviously an immoral trade and yet
it went on flourishing. Finally, as a result of a mighty agitation
in England, it was stopped. A thing of this type which simply ruins
people, should not be tolerated for a single minute.

\par After having had may say on opium as an intoxicant, I must admit
that its place in Materia Medica is incontestable. It is impossible
to do without this drug as a medical agent. But that can be no reason for using
it as intoxicant. Opium is a well-known poison and its use as an intoxicant
should be strictly prohitibed.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Tobacco]{Tobacco}

\par Tobacco has simply worked havoc among mankind. Once caught in
its tangle, it is rare to find anyone get out again. The use of
tobacco is prevalent all over the world in one form or another.
Tolstoy has called it the worst of all intoxicants. This verdict of
that great man should command our attention and respect. He had
freely indulged in the use of tobacco and alcohol in his early days
and was familiar with the harmful effects of both. I must admit,
however, that in spite of this, I cannot talk about the evils of
tobacco with the same authority and knowledge as in the case of
alcohol and opium. But I can certainly say that I am not aware of a
single advantage accruing from the use of tobacco. Smoking is an
expensive habit. I know of an Englishman who used to spend five
pounds, i.e. seventy-five rupees on tobacco every month. His monthly
earnings were twenty-five pounds, so that he smoked away one-fifth
of his monthly income!

\par Tobacco smokers become callous and careless of others' feelings.
Non-smokers generally cannot bear the smell of tobacco smoke, but
one often comes across people in railway trains and tramways who
just go on smoking, heedless of the feelings of their neighbours.
Smoking causes salivation and most smokers have no hesitation in
spitting anywhere.

\par Tobacco smoker's mouths emit a foul smell. Probably tobacco
kills the finer feelings and perhaps it is to this end that men take
to smoking. There is no doubt that tobacco is an intoxicant and
while under its effect one forgets one's worries and misfortunes.
One of Tolstoy's characters had to do a ghastly deed. Tolstoy makes
him drink liquor at first. The man was to murder someone. In spite
of the effects of liquor,
he hesitated to do so. Lost in thought he lights a cigar and begins
to smoke. As he watched the smoke curling up he exclaimed, "What a
coward I am! When it is my duty to commit this murder, why should I
hesitate to do so? Get up, go ahead, and do your job." Thus his
wavering mind finally decided to commit it. I know, this argument is
not very convincing. All smokers are not bad men. I know that
millions of smokers seem to live ordinary straightforward lives.
All the same the thoughtful should ponder over the above quotation.
What Tolstoy perhaps means is that the smoker keeps on committing
minor crimes which generally pass unnoticed.

\par In India people use tobacco for smoking, snuffing and also for
chewing. Some believe that snuff produces a beneficial effect, and
they use it under the advice of vaids and hakims. I think that it is
not necessary. A healthy man should never have such requirements.

\par As for chewing tobacco, it is the dirtiest of the three ways in
which tobacco is used. I have always maintained that its usefulness
is a mere figment of the imagination. I have found no reason to
change my opinion. There is a popular saying in Gujarati which says,
all the three are equally guilty: the smoker fills his house with
smoke, the chewer dirties every corner and the snuffer his clothes.

\par Tobacco chewers, if they are sensible, keep a spittoon at hand.
But the vast majority spit on the floor, in the corners and on the
walls unabashed. The smoker fills his house with the smoke and runs
the risk of its catching fire, and he who takes snuff soils his
clothes. If there are any who keep hand-kerchiefs and thus save
their clothes from soiling, they are exceptions that prove the
general rule. Lovers of (or seekers after) health, if they are
slaves to any of these evils habits, will resolutely get out of the
slavery. Several people are addicted to one, two or all the three of
these habits. They do not appear loathsome to them. But if we think
over it calmly, there is nothing becoming about blowing off smoke or
keeping the mouth stuffed with tobacco and pan practically the whole
day long or opening the snuffbox and taking snuff every now and then.
All the three are most dirty habits.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Brahmacharya]{Brahmacharya}

\par Brahmacharya literally means that mode of life which leads to
the realization of God. That realization is impossible without
practising selfrestraint. Selfrestraint means restraint of all the
senses. But ordinarily Brahmacharya is understood to mean control
over the sexual organs and prevention of seminal discharge through
complete control over the sexual instinct and the sexual organs.
This becomes natural for the man who exercises selfrestraint all
round. It is only when observance of brahmacharya becomes natural to
one that he or she derives the greatest benefit from it. Such a
person should be free from anger and kindred passions. The so-called
brahmacharis, that one generally comes across, behave as if their
one occupation in life was the display of bad temper.

\par One notices that these people disregard the ordinary rules of
brahmacharya and merely aim at and expect to prevent seminal
discharges. They fail to achieve their object. Some of them become
almost insane while others betray a sickly appearance. They are
unable to prevent the discharge and if they succeed in restraining
themselves from sexual intercourse, they think they have attained
all that was needed. Now mere abstention from sexual intercourse
cannot be termed brahmacharya. So long as the desire for intercourse
is there, one cannot be said to have attained brahmacharya. Only he
who has burnt away the sexual desire in its entirety may be said to
have attained control over his sexual organ. The absence of seminal
discharges is a straightforward result of brahmacharya but it is not
all. There is something very striking about a full-fledged
brahmachari. His speech, his thought, and his actions, all bespeak
possession of vital force.

\par Such a brahmachari does not flee from the company of women. He
may not hanker after it nor may he avoid it even when it means
rendering of necessary service. For him the distinction between men
and women almost disappears. No one should distort my words to use
them as an argument in favour of licentiousness. What I mean to say
is that, a man whose sexual desire has been burnt up ceases to make
a distinction between men and women. It must be so. His conception
of beauty alters. He will not look at the external form. He or she
whose character is beautiful will be beautiful in his eyes.
Therefore, the sight of a woman called beautiful will not ruffle or
excite him. Even his sexual organs will begin to look different. In
other words, such a man has so controlled his sexual instinct that
he never gets erections. He does not become impotent for lack of the
necessary secretions of sexual glands. But these secretions in his
case are sublimated into a vital force pervading his whole being. It
is said that an impotent man is not free from the sexual desire.
Some of my correspondents belonging to this group tell me that they
desire erection but they fail to get it and yet have seminal
discharges. Such men have either become impotent or are on the way
to become so for loss of the necessary secretions. This is a pitiable
state. But the cultivated impotency of the man, whose sexual desire
has been burnt up and whose sexual secretions are being converted
into vital force, is wholly different. It is to be desired by
everybody. It is true that such a brahmachari is rare to find.

\par I took the vow of brahmacharya in 1906. In other words, my
effort to become a perfect brahmachari started 36 years ago. I
cannot say I have attained the full brahmacharya of my definition,
but in my opinion I have made substantial progress towards it. If
God wills it, I might attain even perfection in this life. Anyway,
there is no relaxation of effort nor is there any despondence in me.
I do not consider thirty-six years too long a period for the effort.
The richer the prize, the richer must the effort be. Meanwhile, my
ideas regarding the necessity for brahmacharya have become stronger.
Some of my experiments have not reached a stage when they might be placed
before the public with advantage. I hope to do so some day if they
succeed to my satisfaction. Success might make the attainment of
brahmacharya comparatively easier.

\par But the brahmacharya on which I wish to lay emphasis in this
chapter is limited to the conservation of sexual secretions. The
glorious fruit of perfect brahmacharya is not to be had from the
observance of this limited brahmacharya. But no one can reach
perfect brahmacharya without reaching the limited variety.

\par And maintenance of perfect health should be considered almost an
utter impossibility without the brahmacharya leading to the
conservation of the sexual secretions. To countenance wastage of a
secretion which has the power of creating another human being is, to
say the least, an indication of gross ignorance. A firm grasp of the
fact that semen is meant to be used only for procreation and not for
self-indulgence, leaves no room whatsoever for indulging in animal
passion. Assimilation of the knowledge that the vital fluid is never
meant for waste should restrain men and women from becoming crazy
over sexual intercourse. Marriage will then come to have a different
significance and the way it is treated at present will appear
disgusting. Marriage ought to signify a union of hearts between the
two partners. A married couple is worthy of being considered
brahmacharies if they never think of sexual intercourse except for
the purposes of procreation. Such an intercourse is not possible
unless both parties desire it. It will never be resorted to in order
to satisfy passion without the desire for a child. After intercourse
which has been performed as a matter of duty, the desire to repeat
the process should never arise.

\par What I am saying may not be taken as copy book wisdom. The
reader should know that I am writing this after a long personal
experience. I know that what I am writing is contrary to the common
practice. But in order to make progress we have often to go beyond
the limits of common experience. Great discoveries have been
possible only as a result of 
challenging the common experience of commonly held beliefs. The
invention of the simple match stick was a challenge to the common
experience and the discovery of electricity confounded all
preconceived notions.

\par What is true of physical things is equally true of things
spiritual. In the early days there was no such thing as marriage.
Men and women, as in the case of animals, mated promiscuously.
Self-restraint was unknown. Some advanced men went beyond the rut of
common practice and discovered the law of self-restraint. It is our
duty to investigate the hidden possibilities of the law of
self-restraint. Therefore, when I say it is the duty of every man
and woman to take the marital relations to the state indicated by me
it is not to be dismissed as utterly impracticable. If human life is
moulded as it ought to be, conservation of the vital fluid can
become a natural thing for everyone.

\par The sexual glands are all the time secreting the semen. This
secretion should be utilised for enhancing one's mental, physical
and spiritual energy. He, who would learn to utilise it thus, will
find that he requires very little food to keep his body in a fit
condition. And yet he will be as capable as any of undertaking
physical labour. Mental exertion will not tire him easily nor will
he show the ordinary signs of old age. Just as a ripe fruit or an
old leaf falls off naturally, so will such a brahmachari when his
time comes pass away with all his faculties intact. Although with
the passage of time the effects of the natural wear and tear must be
manifest in his body, his intellect instead of showing signs of
decay should show progressive clarity. If all this is correct, the
real key to health lies in the conservation of vital energy.

\par I give here the rules for the conservation of vital force, as I
know them.

\begin{enumerate}
\item Sexual desire has its root in one's thought. Therefore,
complete control over thought in necessary. The way to achieve it is
this. Never let your mind remain idle. Keep it filled with good and
useful ideas. In other words keep thinking of whatever duty you have
on hand. There need be no 
worry about it, but think out how you can become an expert in your
department and then put your thoughts into action. There should be
no waste of thought. Japa (repetition of God's name) is a great
support when idle thoughts haunt you. Contemplate God in the form
you have pictured Him unless you know Him as formless. While Japa is
going on, no other thought should be allowed to enter one's mind.
This is the ideal state. But if one cannot reach it and all sorts of
uninvited thoughts invade one's mind, one should not become
disheartened. Namajapa should be continued faithfully and in the
confidence that ultimate victory is bound to follow.

\item As with our thoughts, so with our reading and talking. These
should be healthy and clean. Erotic literature should be avoided.
Idle, indecent talk leads to indecent action. It is obvious that one
who does not wish to feed his animal passions will avoid occupations
which tend to induce them.

\item Like the mind, the body must also be kept well and usefully
occupied, so that the fatigue of the day may lead to refreshing
dreamless sleep. As far as possible, work should be in the open.
Those who for some reason or the other, cannot undertake physical
labour, should make it a point to take regular exercise. In my
opinion, a brisk walk in the open is the best form of exercise.
During the walk the mouth should be closed and breathing should be
done through the nose. Sitting or walking, the body must be held
erect. To sit or stand otherwise is a sign of laziness and laziness
is the enemy of self-restraint. Yogic exercises --- asanas --- are also
useful. This much I can say from my personal experience that one who
keeps his hands and feet, eyes and ears, healthily occupied does not
have much difficulty in controlling the animal appetite. Everyone
can test this for himself.

\item A Sanskrit text says that a man becomes what he eats. A
glutton who exercises no restraint in eating is a slave to his
animal passions. One who has not been able to control his palate,
will never be able to control the other senses. If this is true, it
is clear that one should take just enough food for the requirements
of the body and no more. The diet should be
healthy and well-balanced. The body was never meant to be treated as
a refuse bin holding the foods that the palate demands. Food is
meant to sustain the body. His body has been given to man as a means
of self-realization. Self-realization means realization of God. A
person who has made this realization the object of his or her life,
will never become a slave to the animal passion.

\item Man should look upon every woman as his mother, sister or
daughter. No one ever entertains impure thoughts with regard to his
mother, sister or daughter. Similarly, woman should look upon every
man as her father, brother or son.
\end{enumerate}

\par I have given more hints than these in my other writings, but
they are all contained in the five given above. Anyone who observes
them should find it easy to overcome what has been called the
greatest of all passions. A person, who has a real desire for
brahmacharya will not give up the effort because he or she regards
the observance of these rules as impossible or at least within the
reach of one in a million. The effort is a joy in itself. To put it
in another way, the joy of possessing perfect health is not to be
compared with any other, and perfect health is unattainable by
slaves. Slavery of one's animality is perhaps the worst of all.

\par A few words about contraceptives will not be out of place here.
The practice of preventing progeny, by means of artificial methods,
is not a new thing. In the past such methods were practised secretly
and they were crude. Modern society has given them respectable place
and made improvements. They have been given a philanthropic garb.
The advocates of contraceptives say that sexual desire is a natural
instinct-some call it a blessing. They therefore say that it is not
desirable to suppress the desire even if it were possible. Birth
control by means of self-restraint is, in their opinion, difficult
to practise. If a substitute for selfrestraint is not prescribed,
the health of innumerable women is bound to suffer through frequent
pregnancies. They add that if births are not regulated,
over-population will ensue; individual
families will be pauperized and their children will be ill-fed,
ill-clothed and ill-educated. Therefore, they argue, it is the duty
of scientists to devise harmless and effective methods of birth
control. This argument has failed to convince me. The use of
contraceptives is likely to produce evils of which we have no
conception. But the worst danger is that the use of contraceptives
bids fair to kill the desire for self-restraint. In my opinion it is
too heavy a price to pay for any possible immediate gain. But this
is not the place to argue my point. Those who would like to pursue
this subject further should procure the booklet called
``Self-Restraint v. Self-Indulgence''\footnote{Published by the Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad-14}, read and digest what I have said therein and
then do as their heads and hearts may dictate. Those who
have not the desire or the leisure to read the booklet will, if they
follow my advice, avoid contraceptives as poison. They should try
their best to exercise selfrestraint. They should take up such
activities as would keep their bodies and minds fully occupied and
give a suitable outlet to their energy. It is necessary to have some
healthy recreation when one is tired by physical labour. There
should not be a single moment of idleness for the devil to creep in.
In this way, true conjugal love will be established and directed
into healthy channels. Both the partners will make a progressive
rise in their moral height. The joy of true renunciation, once they
come to know it, will prevent them from turning to animal enjoyment.
Self-deception is the greatest stumbling block. Instead of
controlling the mind, the fountain of all animal desire, men and
women involve themselves in the vain endeavour to avoid the physical
act. If there is a determination to control the thought and the
action, victory is sure to follow. Man must understand that woman is
his companion and helpmate in life and not a means of satisfying
carnal desire. There must be a clear perception that the purpose of
human creation was wholly different from that of the satisfaction of
animal wants.

\part[Natural Therapeutics]{Natural Therapeutics}%PART II

\renewcommand{\thechapter}{\arabic{chapter}.}
\setcounter{chapter}{0}

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Earth]{Earth}

\par These chapters are written in order to introduce the reader to
this most important branch of therapeutics and tell him how I have
made use of these methods in my own life. The subject has been
touched upon in the foregoing chapters. It will be dealt with in
some detail here. The science of natural therapeutics is based on a
use, in the treatment of disease, of the same five elements which
constitute the human body. To refresh the readers' memory, these are
earth, water, ether, sunlight and air. It is my effort to point out
how they can be utilised for health purposes.

\par Up till the year 1901, although I did not rush to doctors
whenever I happened to get ill, I did use their remedies to a
certain extent. I used to take fruitsalt for constipation. The late
Dr. Pranjivan Mehta who had come to Natal introduced me to certain
drugs to remove general lassitude. This led me to read literature on
the uses of drugs. Add to this a little more knowledge I gained by a
certain amount of work I had put in at a cottage hospital in Natal.
This enabled me to carry on for some time, but none of the drugs did
me any good in the end. Headaches and loss of a sense of general
wellbeing persisted. I was very dissatisfied with this state of
things and what little faith I had in medicines began to fade.

\par All through this interval my experiments in dietetics were
continued. I had great faith in nature cure methods, but there was
nobody to help me with practical guidance in their use. With the
help of whatever knowledge I could gather by
reading a little of nature cure literature, I tried to treat myself
by diet regulation. My habit of going out for long walks also stood
me in good stead, and thanks to that habit I did not have actually
to take to bed. While I was thus managing to keep going somehow, Mr.
Polak handed me Just's book, called Return to Nature. He did not
follow Just's instructions himself, except that he tried to regulate
his diet more or less according to Just's teaching. But knowing me
as he did, he thought I would like the book. Just lays great
emphasis on the use of earth. I felt that I ought to give it a
trial. For constipation, Just advises cold mud poultice on the lower
abdomen. I made a mud poultice by mixing clean dry earth with water,
packed it in a piece of thin cloth and kept it on the abdomen
throughout the night. The result was most satisfactory. I had a
natural well-formed motion the next morning and from that day
onwards I have hardly ever touched fruitsalt. Occasionally, I feel
the need of a purgative and take less than a dessert-spoonful of
castor oil early in the morning. The mud poultice should be 3 inches
broad, 6 inches long and 1 inch thick. Just claims that mud can cure
man bitten by a poisonous snake. He would pack wet earth all round
the body. I mention this for what it is worth. I would like to put
down here what I have tested and proved for myself. It is my
experience that a mud poultice applied to the head, relieves
headache in most cases. I have tried it in hundreds of cases.
Headache may be due to several causes, but whatever the cause, as a
general rule, an application of mud poultice relieves it for the
time being.

\par Mud poultices cure ordinary boils. I have applied mud to
discharging abscesses as well. For these cases I prepare the
poultice by packing the mud in a clean piece of cloth dipped in
potassium permanganate lotion, and apply it to the abscess after
washing clean with permanganate lotion. In the majority of cases
this treatment results in complete cure. I do not remember a single
case in which it has failed me. Mud application immediately relieves
the pain of a wasp sting. I have used it in many cases of scorpion
bite though with much less success. Scorpions have become a nuisance
in Sevagram. We have tried all the known treatments for scorpion bite, but none
has proved infallible. I can say this that the results of mud application are
not inferior to those of any other form of treatment.

\par In high fever, an application of mud poultice on the head and
abdomen is very useful. Although it does not always bring down the
temperature, it does invariably soothe the patient and make him feel
better, so that the patients themselves ask for these applications.
I have used it in several cases of typhoid fever. The fever no doubt
runs its own course but mud applications seem to relieve
restlessness and abate the suffering. We have had about ten cases of
typhoid fever in Sevagram with complete recovery in every case, so
that the inmates of the Ashram are no longer afraid of typhoid
fever. I have not used any drugs in the treatment of these cases. I
have made use of other nature cure methods besides mud poultices,
but about those in their own place.

\par In Sevagram we have made free use of hot mud poultices as a
substitute for antiphlogistine. A little oil and salt is added to
the mud and it is heated sufficiently long to ensure sterilisation.

\par I have not told the reader what kind of earth should be used for
mud poultices. In the beginning I used to procure sweet smelling
clean red earth. It emits a delicate smell when it is mixed with
water. But this kind of earth is not easy to obtain. In a city like
Bombay it is a problem to get any kind of earth. It is safe to use
soft alluvial clay, which is neither gritty nor sticky. One should
never use earth taken from manured soil. Earth should be dried,
pounded, and passed through a fine sieve. If there is any doubt as
to its cleanliness, it should be well heated and thus sterilised.
Mud used as a poultice on a clean surface need not be thrown away
after use. It can be used again and again after drying it in the sun
or on fire and pounding and sieving it. I am not aware that mud
poultice made out of the same earth again and again as described
above, is any the less efficacious. I have myself used it in this
way and did not find it any the less efficacious for repeated use.
Some friends who regularly use mud poultices, tell me that mud from
Jumna's banks is particularly good for this purpose.

EATING EARTH

\par Just writes that clean earth may be eaten in order to overcome
constipation. Five to ten grams is the maximum dose. The rationale
is said to be this. Earth is not digested. It acts as roughage and
must pass out. The peristalsis thus stimulated pushes out the faecal
matter as well. I have not tried it myself. Therefore those who wish
to do so, should try it on their own responsibility. I am inclined
to think that a trial or two is not likely to harm anyone.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Water]{Water}

\par Hydrotherapy is a well-known and ancient form of therapy. Many
books have been written on the subject, but in my opinion the form
of hydrotherapy suggested by Kuhne is simple and effective. Kuhne's
book on nature cure is very popular in India. It has been translated
in several languages of India. Andhra has the greatest number of
Kuhne's followers. He has written a good deal about diet as well,
but here I wish to confine myself to his experiments in
hydrotherapy.

\par Hip bath and sitz bath are the most important of Kuhne's
contributions to hydrotherapy. He has devised a special tub for use
though one can do without it. Any tub thirty to thirtysix inches
long according to the patient's height generally serves the purpose.
Experience will indicate the proper size. The tub should be filled
with fresh cold water so that it does not overflow when the patient
sits in it. In summer the water may be iced, if it is not cold
enough, to give a gentle shock to the patient. Generally, water kept
in earthen jars overnight
answers the purpose. Water can also be cooled by putting a piece of
cloth on the surface of the water and then fanning it vigorously.
The tub should be kept against the bathroom wall and a plank put in
the tub to serve as back rest. The patient should sit in the tub
keeping his feet outside. Portions of the body outside water should
be kept well covered so that the patient does not feel cold. After
the patient is comfortably seated in the tub, gentle friction should
be applied to his abdomen with a soft towel. This bath can be taken
for five to thirty minutes. When it is over, the body should be
rubbed dry and the patient put to bed.

\par Hip bath brings down the temperature in high fever and given in
the manner described above it never does any harm, and may do much
good. It relieves constipation and improves digestion. The patient
feels fresh and active after it. In cases of constipation, Kuhne
advises a brisk walk for half an hour immediately after the bath. It
should never be given on a full stomach.

\par I have tried hip baths on a fairly large scale. They have proved
efficacious in more than 75 cases out of 100. In cases of
hyperpyrexia, if the patient's condition permits of his being seated
in the tub, the temperature immediately invariably falls at least by
two to three degrees and, the onset of delirium is averted.

\par The rationale of the hip bath according to Kuhne is this.
Whatever the apparent cause of fever, the real cause in every case
is one and the same, i.e. accumulation of waste matter in the
intestines. The heat generated by the putrefaction of this waste
matter is manifested in the form of fever and several other
ailments. Hip bath brings down this internal fever so that fever and
other ailments which are the external manifestations thereof subside
automatically. How far this reasoning is correct, I cannot say. It
is for experts to do so. Although the medical profession have taken
up some things from nature cure methods, on the whole they have
given a cold shoulder to naturopathy. In my opinion both the parties
are to be blamed for this state of affairs. The medical profession
have got into the habit of confining themselves to whatever is included
in their own curriculum. They present an attitude of indifference,
if not that of contempt, for anything that lies outside their
groove. On the other hand, the nature curists nurse a feeling of
grievance against the medicos and, in spite of their very limited
scientific knowledge, they make tall claims. They lack the spirit of
organisation. Each one is self-satisfied and works by himself
instead of all pooling their resources for the advancement of their
system. No one tries to work out in a scientific spirit all the
implications and possibilities of the system. No one tries to
cultivate humility, (if it is possible to cultivate humility).

\par I have not said all this in order to belittle the work of the
naturopaths. As a lay co-worker I wish them to see things in their
true colour so that they may make improvements wherever possible. It
is my conviction that so long as some dynamic personality, from
among the naturopaths themselves, does not come forward with the
zeal of a missionary, things will continue as they are. Orthodox
medicine has its own science, medical unions and teaching
institutions. It has too a certain measure of success. The medical
profession should not be expected to put faith, all of a sudden, in
things which are yet to be fully tested and scientifically proved.

\par In the meantime the public should know that the speciality of
nature cure methods lies in the fact that being natural, they can be
safely practised by laymen. If a man, suffering from headache, wets
a piece of cloth in cold water and wraps it round his head, it can
do no harm. The addition of earth to cold water enhances the utility
of the cold pack.

\par Now about the sitz or friction bath. The organ of reproduction
is one of the most sensitive parts of the body. There is something
illusive about the sensitiveness of the glans penis and the
foreskin. Anyway, I know not how to describe it. Kuhne has made use
of this knowledge for therapeutic purposes. He advises application
of gentle friction to the outer end of the external sexual organ by
means of a soft wet piece of cloth, while cold water is being
poured. In the case of
the male the glans penis should be covered with the foreskin before
applying friction. The method advised by Kuhne is this. A stool
should be placed in a tub of cold water so that the seat is just
above the level of water in the tub. The patient should sit on the
stool with his feet outside the tub and apply gentle friction to the
sexual organ which just touches the surface of the water in the tub.
This friction should never cause pain. On the contrary the patient
should find it pleasant and feel rested and peaceful at the end of
the bath. Whatever the ailment, the sitz bath makes the patient feel
better for the time being. Kuhne places sitz baths higher than hip
baths. I have had much less experience of the former than of the
latter. The blame, I think, lies mostly with myself. I have been
lax. Those whom I advised sitz baths, have not been patient with the
experiment, so that I cannot express an opinion on the efficacy of
these baths, based on personal experience. It is worth a trial by
everyone. If there is any difficulty about finding a tub, it is
possible to pour water from a jug or a lota and take the friction
bath. It is bound to make the patient feel rested and peaceful. As a
general rule, people pay scant attention to the cleansing of the
sexual organ. The friction bath will easily achieve that end. Unless
one is particularly careful, dirt accumulates between the foreskin
and the glans penis. This must be removed. Insistence on keeping the
sexual organ clean and patiently following the treatment outlined
above will make the observance of brahmacharya comparatively easier.
It will result in making the local nerve endings less sensitive and
unwanted seminal emissions less likely. To say the least it is very
unclean to allow seminal emissions to occur. Greater insistence on
cleanliness should and will cause a feeling of revulsion against the
process and make one much more particular than otherwise in taking
all the precautions to avoid them.

\par Having dealt with the Kuhne baths, a few words about wet sheet
packs will not be out of place. It is very useful in pyrexia and
insomnia. The method of giving wet sheet packs is this. Spread three
or four thick broad woollen blankets on a cot and on top of them a
thick cotton sheet dipped in cold water
with the water wrung out. The patient lies flat on the wet sheet
with his head resting on a pillow outside the sheet. The wet sheet
and the blankets are wrapped round the patient covering the whole
body except the head which is covered with a damp towel treated
after the manner of the wet sheet. The sheet and the blankets are
wrapped round the patient, so that outside air cannot get inside.
Though the patient feels a gentle shock when first laid in the wet
sheet pack, he finds it pleasant afterwards. In a minute or two he
begins to feel warm. Unless the fever has become chronic, in about
five minutes it begins to come down with sweating. In resistant
cases I have kept the patient wrapped in the wet sheet pack up to
half an hour. This has finally resulted in sweating. Sometimes,
there is no sweating, but the patient goes off to sleep. In that
case he should not be awakened. The sleep indicates that the wet
sheet pack has produced a soothing effect and he is quite
comfortable. The temperature invariably falls at least by one or two
degrees as a result of the wet sheet pack.

\par It was over thirty years ago that my second son suffered from
double pneumonia and high fever resulting in delirium. I had a
medical friend advising me as to his condition. I would not, much to
his sorrow, try his prescription. But I tried water cure. I used to
put him in wet sheet packs when fever shot up very high. After six
or seven days the temperature went down. So far as I remember I gave
him nothing but water. But it is just possible that I gave him
orange juice also, but nothing else. Typhoid supervened. It lasted
42 days. There was no treatment beyond simple nursing. I gave him
milk and water for food. He had daily sponges. He was completely
cured and is today the strongest and healthiest of all my four sons.
At least this much might be said of the treatment that he was none
the worse for it.

\par Wet sheet packs are also useful in the treatment of prickly
heat, urticaria, other forms of skin irritation, measles, smallpox
etc. I have tried them on a fairly large scale for these ailments.
For smallpox and measles cases, I added enough potassium
permanganate to the water to give it a light pink
colour. The sheet used for these patients, should afterwards be
sterilised by soaking it in boiling water and leaving it in it till
it cools down sufficiently and then washed with soap and water.

\par In cases where circulation has become sluggish, the leg muscles
feel sore and there is a peculiar ache and feeling of discomfort in
the legs, an ice massage does a lot of good. This treatment is more
effective in summer months. Massaging a weak patient with ice in
winter might prove a risky affair.

\par Now a few words about the therapeutics of hot water. An
intelligent use of hot water gives relief in many cases. Application
of iodine is a very popular remedy for all sorts of injuries and the
like. Application of hot water will prove equally effective in most
of these cases. Tincture of iodine is applied on swollen and bruised
areas. Hot water fomentations are likely to give equal relief, if
not more. Again, iodine drops are used in cases of ear ache.
Irrigation of the ear with warm water is likely to relieve the pain
in most of these cases. The use of iodine is attended with certain
risks. The patient may have allergy towards the drug. Iodine
mistaken for something else and taken internally might prove
disastrous. But there is no risk whatsoever in using hot water.
Boiling water is as good a disinfectant as tincture of iodine. I do
not mean to belittle the usefulness of iodine or suggest that hot
water can replace it in all cases. Iodine is one of the few drugs
which I regard most useful and necessary, but it is an expensive
thing. The poor cannot afford to buy it and moreover its use cannot
be safely entrusted to everybody. But water is available everywhere.
We may not despise its therapeutic value because it is obtained so
easily. Knowledge of common household remedies often proves a
godsend in many a crisis.

\par In cases of scorpion bite where all remedies have failed,
immersion of the part in hot water has been found to relieve the
pain to a certain extent.

\par A shivering fit or a rigour can be made to subside by putting
buckets of hot boiling water all round the patient who is well
wrapped up or by saturating the atmosphere of the room with steam by
some other device. A rubber hot water bag is a most useful thing,
but it is not to be found in every household. A glass bottle with a
well fitting cork, filled with hot water and wrapped in a piece of
cloth, serves the same purpose. Care should be taken to choose
bottles that will not crack on hot water being poured into them.

\par Steam is a more valuable therapeutic agent. It can be used to
make the patient sweat. Steam baths are most useful in cases of
rheumatism and other joint-pains. The easiest as well as the oldest
method of taking steam bath is this. Spread a blanket or two on a
sparsely but tightly woven cot and put one or two covered vessels
full with boiling water under it. Make the patient lie flat on the
cot and cover him up in such a way that the ends of the covering
blankets touch the ground and thus prevent the steam from escaping
and the outside air from getting in. After arranging everything as
above, the lid from the vessels containing boiling water is removed
and steam soon gets on to the patient lying between the blankets. It
may be necessary to change the water once or twice. Usually in India
people keep an angithi under the pots to keep the water boiling.
This ensures continuous discharge of steam, but is attended with
risk of accidents. A single spark might set fire to the blankets or
to the cot and endanger the patient's life. Therefore, it is
advisable to use the method described by me even though it might
seem slow and tedious.

\par Some people add neem leaves or other herbs to the water used for
generating steam. I do not know if such an addition increases the
efficiency of steam. The object is to induce sweat and that is
attained by mere steam.

\par In cases of cold feet or aching of legs, the patient should be
made to sit with his feet and legs immersed up to the knees in as
hot water as he can bear. A little mustard powder can be added to
the water. The foot bath should not last for more than fifteen
minutes. This treatment improves the local circulation and gives
immediate relief.

\par In cases of common cold and sore throat a steam kettle
which is very much like an ordinary tea kettle with a long nozzle
can be used for applying steam to the nose or throat. A rubber tube
of required length can be attached to any ordinary kettle for this
purpose.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Akash (Ether)]{Akash (Ether)}

\par Akash is a difficult word to translate as are indeed all the
other four elements so called. For pani is not mere water in the
original, nor Vayu wind, or prithivi earth, or teja light. Akash is
ether least of all. Perhaps the nearest equivalent is emptiness
taken in its literal sense. And it is horribly inexpressive of the
original. All the five in the original are as living as life. If
however we take ether as the nearest equivalent for akash, we must
say that we know very little about ether itself and akash much less.
Our knowledge of its therapeutic uses is still more limited. Akash
might be taken for the empty space surrounding the earth and the
atmosphere round it. On a clear day, on looking up, one sees a
beautiful mauve blue canopy which is known as the akash or sky. So
far as we are concerned, this sky or the ether is limitless. We are
surrounded by it on every side, and there is no nook or corner
without it. Generally we imagine that the sky is something resting
upon the high ? it is the blue canopy above us. But the sky is as
much above us as below and all around us. We move round and round
with the earth. Therefore the akash is round and everybody is within
it. It is an envelope whose outermost surface is measureless. The
lower strata of the akash for a number of miles are filled with air.
But for this man would become suffocated in spite of the emptiness.
True, we cannot see the air, but we can feel it when in motion. Sky
or the ether is the abode of the atmosphere. One can pump out air
say from an empty bottle and create a vacuum, but who can pump out
the vacuum itself? That is akash.

\par This akash we have to make use of to maintain or to regain
health. Air being most essential to sustain life, nature has made it
omnipresent. But the omnipresence of air is only relative. It is not
limitless in reality. Scientists tell that after a certain number of
miles above the earth there is no air. It is said that earthly
creatures cannot exist outside this atmosphere. This statement may
or may not be true. All that we are concerned with here is that
akash extends beyond the atmosphere. Some day the scientists might
prove that what we call ether is also something which fills the
empty space ?akash. Then we will have to discover a new name for the
empty space that holds neither air nor the ether. Be that as it may,
the mystery of this empty space all around us is most intriguing. We
cannot solve it unless we can solve the mystery of God himself. This
much might be said that the more we utilise this great element akash
the healthier we will be. The first lesson to be learnt is this,
that we should not put any partition between ourselves and the sky ?
the infinite ?which is very near and yet very far away. If our
bodies could be in contact with the sky without the intervention of
houses, roofs and even clothes, we are likely to enjoy the maximum
amount of health. This is not possible for everyone. But all can and
should accept the validity of the statement and adapt life
accordingly. To the extent that we are able to approach the state in
practice, we will enjoy contentment and peace of mind. This train of
thought taken to the extreme leads us to a condition where even the
body becomes an obstacle separating man from the infinite. To
understand this truth is to become indifferent to the dissolution of
the body. For to lose oneself in the infinite is to find oneself.
The body thus ceases to be a vehicle for self-indulgence. Man will
make use of his body for the realization of this unity with the
infinite. In the course of the attempt he will discover that he is
part of and one with all the life that surrounds him. This must mean
service of mankind and through it finding God.

\par To return from the high flight, this train of thought will make
the thinker keep his surrounding as open as possible.
He will not fill the house with unnecessary furniture and will use
the minimum of clothes that are necessary. Many house-holds are so
packed with all sorts of unnecessary decorations and furniture which
one can very well do without, that a simple living man will feel
suffocated in those surroundings. They are nothing but means of
harbouring dust, bacteria and insects. Here in the house where I am
under detention, I feel quite lost. The heavy furniture, chairs,
tables, sofas, bedsteads, innumerable looking-glasses, all get on my
nerves. The expensive carpets on the floors collect large amount of
dust and act as a breeding place for insect life. One day the carpet
in one of the rooms was taken out for dusting. It was not one man's
work. Six men spent the afternoon in doing the job. They must have
removed at least ten pounds of dust. When the carpet was put back in
its place it had a new feel about it. These carpets cannot be taken
out and dusted everyday. Such treatment will wear out the carpets
and greatly increase the expenditure of labour. But this is by the
way. What I meant to say is this my desire to be in tune with the
infinite has saved me from many complications in life. It led not
merely to simplicity of household and dress but all round simplicity
in the mode of my life. In a nutshell, and in the language of the
subject under discussion, I have gone on creating more and more
contact with akash. With the increase in the contact went
improvement in health. I had more contentment and peace of mind and
the desire for belongings almost disappeared. He who will establish
contact with the infinite possesses nothing and yet possesses
everything. In the ultimate analysis, man owns that of which he can
make legitimate use and which he can assimilate. If everybody
followed this rule, there would be room enough for all and there
would be neither want nor overcrowding.

\par It follows that one should make it a point to sleep in the open.
Sufficient covering should be used to protect oneself against the
inclemencies of the weather ?against cold and dew. In rainy season
an umbrella like roof without walls should be used for keeping the
rain out. For the rest, the 
starlit blue canopy should form the roof so that whenever one opens
one's eyes, he or she can feast them on the ever changing beautiful
panorama of the heavens. He will never tire of the scene and it will
not dazzle or hurt his eyes. On the contrary, it will have a
soothing effect on him. To watch the different starry constellations
floating in their majesty is a feast for the eyes. One who
established contact with the stars as living witnesses to all his
thoughts will never allow any evil or impurity to enter his mind and
will enjoy peaceful, refreshing sleep.

\par Let us descend from the akash above to the akash within and
immediately about us. Thus the skin has millions of pores. If we
fill up the empty space within these pores, we simply die. Any
clogging of the pores therefore must interfere with the even flow of
health. Similarly we must not fill up the digestive tract with
unnecessary foodstuffs. We should eat only as much as we need and no
more. Often one overeats or eats indigestible things without being
aware of it. An occasional fast, say once a week or once a
fortnight, will enable one to keep the balance even. If one is
unable to fast for the whole day, one should miss one or more meals
during the day. Nature abhors a vacuum is only partially true.
Nature constantly demands a vacuum. The vast space surrounding us is
the standing testimony of the truth.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Sun]{Sun}

\par As in the case of the other elements, which have been already
dealth with, man cannot do without sunlight. The sun is the source
of light and heat. If there was no sun, there would be neither light
nor warmth. Unfortunately we do not make full use of sunlight and
consequently we are unable to enjoy perfect health. Sunbath is as
useful as ordinary water bath though the two cannot replace one
another. In cases of debility and slow circulation, exposure of the
uncovered body to the morning sun acts as an all-round general tonic and
accelerates the metabolism. The morning sun has the largest amount
of ultra-violet rays which are a most effective component of the
sun's rays. If the patient feels cold, he should lie in the sun
covered up and gradually expose more and more of his body as he gets
used to it. One can also take the sunbath pacing up and down in the
sun without any clothes on, in a private enclosure or in any other
place away from public gaze. If such a place is not within easy
reach, one can just cover up the private parts by tying up a piece
of cloth or a langoti and expose the rest of his body to the sun.

\par I know of many persons who have been benefited by sunbaths. It
is a well-known treatment for tuberculosis. Sunbaths or heliotherapy
is no longer confined to the sphere of naturopathy. Orthodox
medicine has taken it up from naturopathy and developed it further.
In cold countries, special glass buildings have been constructed
under medical supervision, so that the glass lets in the sun's rays
and at the same time protects patients against the cold.

\par Sun treatment often results in the cure of intractable ulcers.
To produce sweating I have made patients lie in the sun at about 11
a.m., i.e a little before midday. The experiment has been successful
and the patients are soon bathed in sweat. In these cases the head
should be protected from the sun by means of a cold mud poultice.
Banana or any other leaves can be used to cover up the head and face
and thus further help in keeping the head cool and well protected.
The head should never be exposed to strong sunlight.

\chapter[\hspace{4ex}Air]{Air}

\par This fifth element is as important as the four already
discussed in the foregoing pages. The human body which is composed
of the five elements cannot do without any one of them. Therefore no
one should be afraid of air. Generally,
wherever our people go, they make devices to keep out the sun and
the air and thus jeopardise their health. If one cultivates the
habit of living in the open in the midst of plenty of fresh air,
right from childhood, the body will become hardened and he or she
will never suffer from cold in the head and the like ailments. I
have said enough about the importance of fresh air in an earlier
chapter. There is no occasion, therefore, to repeat here what has
already been said.

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