GANDHI'S EXPERIMENTS WITH CELIBABY OR SEX
agrasen
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Fw: GANDHI’S EXPERIMENT WITH CELIBACY
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Vijay Ashar
Reply-To: bhakta711@yahoo.com
To: vijay ashar
Cc: Radhashyam Brahmachari
This is a wake-up call for all of us who still insist upon keeping the blindfolds on our eyes w.r.t. our conditioned impressions about Gandhi and Nehru and about the salutory roles they are supposed to have played in the nation's abhyudaya. If you have a scientific temperament and an open mind to learning about the truth whereever it comes from, i would strongly urge you to read this article in full. This is not to assert that all the facts reported about Gandhiji's behavior pattern reported here must be 100% true. But here is the question each of us can and must pose to ourself and search for an honest answer after reading this: If we had a grandfather or grand-uncle (in his 60's or 70's) living in our family along with our growing children, who was as disposed to indulging in his 'Experiments with Celibacy' as reportedly Gandhiji was, even if 50% of what is reported about him is true, would we still be inclined to put up with him as an elderly member of our joint family, or shrug it off as merely a 'queer idiosyncracy' of a dying old man? Besides, would you consider a man who was vulnerable to such base human perversion and carnality, even thru his old age, worthy of your respect as a 'Mahatma' or as 'Father of the Nation', or even as a 'saintly person', no matter how laudable some of his other attributes or achievements? Frankly, speaking for myself, i felt so shell-shocked and offended about this streak in Gandhiji's behavior pattern that now i hesitate even to add the suffix 'ji' after his name.
Indeed, we would do ourselves and our country a lot of good if we can bring down the personna of both Gandhi and Nehru from their lofty and glorified pedestals and examine both their strengths and weaknesses (as well as failures) realistically as belonging to mere mortals, colored and shaded by the three GuNas of Nature (PrakRti}. Then, and only then, we would be able to do better justice to their positive strengths and achievements, and maybe even try to emulate some of them at a personal and national level. Two observations of Shri KeishNa in B. Geeta are particularly relevant in this context:
Na kartRtvam na KarmaaNi Lokasya SRjati PrabhuH
Na karma-phala-sanyogam Svabhaavastu pravartate .......;. (B.G. V-14)
[God determines neither the doership, nor the doings of men, nor even their contact with the fruits of their actions; it is Nature alone (thru the eternal Law of Action and Reaction) that prevails here.]
Svabhaavajena Kaunteya NibaddhaH svena KarmaNaa
Kartum necchhasi yanmohaat Karishyasi avasho'pi tat ........(B.G. XVIII-60)
[O Arjuna, That action which you are not willing to undertake thru mental delusion, you will still be helplessly compelled to carry out thru the force of your innate nature.]
We must keep in mind that even Gandhiji was not, and had not become, a pure agent of God's wish in everything that he said and did.
vijay
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--- On Sat, 12/20/08, RADHASYAM BRAHMACHARI
From: RADHASYAM BRAHMACHARI
Subject: GANDHI’S EXPERIMENT WITH CELIBACY
To: "q subash razdan"
Date: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 8:50 PM
GANDHI’S EXPERIMENT WITH
CELIBACY
By Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari
Ii is well known that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the most trusted and the most loyal stooge of the British crown, served the British interest through his Satyagraha or the nonviolent freedom struggle. But most of the people of this country, who take him to be a man of high moral, do not know what short vile lechery he indulged in in the name of keeping Brahmacharys or celibacy, or in experimenting with the same. In 1903, when he was only 34 years old ( alternatively in 1906, when he was 37), or in other words, when he was at the zenith of his youth, he took a vow that he will observe celibacy and will remain a brahmachari for the rest of his life (D Keer, Mahatma Gandhi, pp-73)..
But the question remains, what made Gandhi, an extremely sensual man, to take such a vow? Gandhi was so sensual that when his father Karamchand was dying, he preferred to make love and have sex with his wife Kasturba in another room of the same house. So, when such a sensual Gandhi took vow to keep celibacy, one becomes suspicious that there must have been an evil intention behind that vow. Many believe that at that time, he developed some form of aversion towards Kasturba, an illiterate mother of three children, or in other words, he disliked to share bed with her. So, his intention was to abandon Kasturba as a sleeping partner in the name of keeping celibacy.
In 1882, when Mohandas was married to Kasturba, he was 13 and Kasturba was 14. While he was in South Africa, he came in contact with several educated and well bred women through his profession and Gandhi liked their company very much. From their company, Gandhi used to obtain a special kind of intellectual pleasure, which was not possible from Kasturba. At that time, more than a dozen women came very close to him and six of them were of Western origin. They were Graham Polak, Nilla Cram Cook, Madelline Slade (aka Miraben), Margarate Spiegel, Sonja Schlesin and Esther Faering (M V Kamath, Mahatma and Celibacy, Organiser, 2.7.2006). His closest Indian women were Srimati Prabhavati Devi (wife of Jaiprakash Narain), Kanchan Shah, Prema Ben Kantak, Sushila Nair (sister of Pyarelal), Manu Gandhi (wife of his grand-nephew Joysukhlal Gandhi), Ava Gandhi and Saraladevi Chaudhurani. This Saraladevi was a niece of the poet Rabindranath Tagore and her mother was Srimati Swarnakumari Devi (M V Kamath, ibid).
To narrate the affair between Gandhi and Saraladevi, Sri Girija Kumar says, “Saraladevi Caowdhurani came very close to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Their whirl wind romance lasted for barely two years, but it upset the balance of the Gandhian establishment and shook its very roots. She is now a part of history and a footnote in contemporary Gandhian literature. She, however, left a scar in the minds of Gandhiji for the rest of his life.” (Brahmacharya: Gandhi and his Women Associates, as quoted by M V Kamath, ibid.). Gandhi used to admit that his relation with Saraladevi went up to sexuality (Girija Kumar (1997), The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India, Har-Anand Publishers. pp. 73–107).
Next to Saraladevi was Prabhavatidevi. While commenting on Gandhi’s affair with her, Girija Kumar writes, "Prabhavati became so obssessed with Gandhi that she would not tolerate separation from him even for a single day. .... Her hysteria was highest manifestation of her desperation. She would remain unconscious for hours together...", (Brahmacharya: Gandhi and his Women Associates, as quoted by M V Kamath, ibid.). “In his own way, without, obviously meaning it, the Mahatma ruined many lives. It was only when he was jailed at the Agha Khan Palace that he came to be reconciled with Kasturba. And it was only after Gandhi died that Prabhavati came to live a normal life with her husband, until she died a premature death. Many detested Gandhi’s so-called ‘experiments’ with celibacy” (M V Kamath, ibid). In 1938, Prema Ben Kantak wrote Prasad and Diksha, narrating her sex life with Gandhi, which triggered a widespread uproar in Maharastra.
However, the entire episode of his sexual perversion in the name of experimenting with celibacy or brahmacharya after coming back to India in 1915 and setting up the Sabarmati Ashram. And as a consequence, Gandhi started naked display of sex with his women associated, in a big way. This obviously aroused commotion among the other members of the ashram. “The main reason behind this uproar was his double standard. While for other members, he declared strict law for renunciation of women, he kept himself above all such restrictions. As an excuse, he used to say that he was an ardhanariswar (or half man and half woman, the other name of Lord Shiva ) and hence devoid of any carnal desire” (Yashodhara Roychowdhuri, Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika, 25.6.2006). To hoodwink the other members, he used to say that he was the mother of all and hence every women of the ashram were either his mother or a sister. He used to deceive others in another way. He used to say that whatever he was doing, he was doing according to the command of his “inner voice”, or, in other words, according to the command of the God and hence all his deeds were sacred.
Though, due to the above mentioned uproar by the other members of the ashram, Gandhi was compelled to stop his sexual activities for a time being. But that was only to resume it with a new enthusiasm in the name of experiments on celibacy and sleeping naked with several naked women on the same bed. At first, he and his women, though shared the same room but slept on different beds. But after a short while, naked Gandhi and his naked women companions started to share the same bed. He used to say that lying with so many naked women kept him warm and the practice was a type of naturopathy for him (Patricia Caplan (1987). The Cultural construction of sexuality, Routledge. pp. 278 & Parekh, Bhikhu C. (1999). Colonialism, Tradition and Reform: An Analysis of Gandhi's Political Discourse, Sage. pp-210 ). He also used to say that lying with so many naked women helped him a lot to assess his success in keeping celibacy, (Kumar, Girja (1997). The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India, Har-Anand Publications. pp. 98, and Gandhi’s letter to G D Birla in April, April, 1945). It should be mentioned here that Gandhi considered his experiment a success if, despite such extraordinary provocation, his private part refused to erect.
Many will refuse to believe that, after Satyagraha (or nonviolence), sex was his second major subject of his articles and letters he wrote to his eulogists. He wrote a series of five articles of his experiments on celibacy, i.e. lying naked with so many naked women, which were later published in Harijan ( Kumar, Girja (1997). The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India, Har-Anand Publications. Pp-98.). In the present context, it should also be mentioned that, in general, young and adolescent boys experience wet dream. When he was in South Africa, Gandhi had wet dream at least once in a month. But it is unbelievable that he had such an experience in Mumbai, when he was an old man of 67. This single incidence is more than enough to expose Gandhi’s sexual perversion. Moreover, Gandhi admitted that till his death, he failed to get rid of his sexual perversion (D Keer,ibid, p-678).
According to Gandhi, active-celibacy meant perfect self control in the presence of opposite sex. Gandhi conducted his experiments with a number of women such as Abha, the sixteen-year-old wife of his grandnephew Kanu Gandhi.. Gandhi acknowledged “that this experiment is very dangerous indeed”, but thought “that it was capable of yielding great results” (Tidrick, Kathryn (2007). Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life. I.B.Tauris. pp. 302–304). Many believe that, in the name of active celibacy, he not only used those women, but as he never sought for consent of them, he committed sexual oppression on them. On the other hand, the victims had no other alternative but to endure all such oppressions silently (Yashodhara Roychowdhuri, Ananda Bazar Patrike, 25.6.2006).
While commenting on this aspect of Gandhi’s life, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, a real brahmachari and the most earnest follower of Gandhi, said, “There was no need for Gandhi to experiment with brahmacharya. In case Gandhi was a perfect brahmachari, he did not require his brahmacharya to be tested; and if he was an imperfect brahmachari, he should have avioded the experiments on principle” (M V Kamath, Organiser-2.7.2006). But Gandhi maintained that all his experiments yielded very good results (Tidrick, Kathryn (2007). Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life, I.B.Tauris. pp. 302–304).
It has been pointed out above that Gandhi conducted his experiments with a number of young women such as Abha, the sixteen-year-old wife of his grandnephew Kanu Gandhi. Another victim was 19 year-old Manu Gandhi, the daughter of his another grand-naphew Joysukhlal Gandhi. After making her a sleeping partner, Gandhi wrote to Joysukhlal that Manu had started to share his bed so that he may "correct her sleeping posture" ( Tidrick, Kathryn (2007). Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life, I.B.Tauris. pp.302–304.).
Gandhi went to Noakhali in December, 1946, and at that time Manu Gandhi was his sleeping partner. He used to say that at that time he was immensely benefitted by lying naked with naked Manu. And it helped him to assess the serious problems like Partition and the Hindu-Muslim amity. Gandhi used to say that he slept with Manu like her mother and Abha and Manu were his walking sticks. It should be mentioned here that at that time, Manu Gandhi was married and her husband’s name was Surendra Mashruwala. In March, 1945, Gandhi told the press reporters that lying with naked Abha and Manu, he achieved great success in his experiment on celibacy. “Previously I carried out similar experiments with Kasturba, but that did not yield so much” ( Tidrick, Kathryn (2007). Gandhi: A Political and Spiritual Life, I.B.Tauris. pp. 302–304.).
Obviously, Gandhi became the target of bitter criticism, even by his closest companions, due to his sexual perversion in the name of experiments on brahmacharya. One day his stenographer R P Parashuram, observing him lying naked with naked Manu Gandhi, submitted his resignation letter and left the ashram. Gandhi told him that he was at liberty to do whatever he wanted. He could remain at the ashram or go. (Kumar, Girja (1997). The Book on Trial: Fundamentalism and Censorship in India, Har-Anand Publishers. pp. 73–107).
Nirmal Kumar Basu was one of the closest associates of Gandhi and accompanied him during his Noakhali tour. There an incident took place on 17th December that turned Nirmal Kumar into a severe critique of Gandhi. On that night Gandhi was sleeping, as usual naked, with Manu Gandhi and Dr Sushila Nair. Sushila was a doctor and accompanied Gandhi to look after his healthy. Just before dawn, it appeared that something unusual was happening in the room where Gandhi was sleeping with Manu and Sushila. It was found that Gandhi was screaming in shrill voice and slapping his forehead.
Neither Manu nor Sushila had ever disclosed what happened on that fateful night. But it was not so difficult to guess. Most probably, Gandhi made sexual advances to Sushila and tried to rape an unwilling Sushila. She, on the other hand, prevented Gandhi and cried for help and that made Gandhi to scream out of frustration. After this incident, Nirmal Kumar decided to abandon Gandhi and he permanently left him on 18th March, 1947 (Ghose, Sankar (1991). Mahatma Gandhi, Allied Publishers. pp. 356, D Keer, p-759 & Yashodhara Roychowdhuri, ibid.).
Later on, Nirmal Kumar expressed his grievances through a letter. He wrote that, perhaps he, lying naked with several naked women, wanted to test whether that aroused his sexual passion. But, in fact, he was ruining the lives of his young women associates. It is a shame that we are still using the word Mahatma before the name of such a sexually pervert man.
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posted by SHER SINGH AGRAWAL @ 7:54 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Remove all this... its true but not in the manner u have taken or written it..
We as human beings are lost in our own smallness. When we see another rise above us, it is a natural instinct of our ego's to deride the 'superior mortal' by shaming him, him; the transgressor of our supposed self-perfection, into his rightful place as an ordinary soul.
I am all for a thorough understanding of history, our Gods, our Leader demigods etc. For blind Hero worship without knowledge breeds despotism and demagoguery. Gandhi wanted it so, even in his biography he was quite frank about himself and his failings. So this book is welcome in that respect.
While book helps round out Gandhi's personality, let not discussion of this aspect of his personality despoil his greatness in inspiring non-violence, national self-reliance and bringing hope to millions in a time of great oppression and wanton cruelty. Lest we deride this man, it will only show our smallness and ignorance at appreciating his towering stature and the indelible signature he left in humanity's annals on using non-violence as a means of liberation from oppression, without and within.
Godspeed,
If Ghandi were a sexual pervert and rapist as you speak, why would he be so open about his experiments and why would he voluntarily undergo Brahmacharya?
You're jumping to conclusion is the very thing that makes his experiments worthwhile as he is testing himself beyond 'human' instincts. This article is shallow and slanderous. Where does one conclude that these women were victims?
It is perplexing to me that anyone could conclude that a man, whose life's work directed towards non-violence and sexual restraint would be a rapist. This is the most damning claim imaginable and follows no logic in its argument.
The references make the article appear well researched but the reality is that it has been taken out of context and massaged toward your own agenda, which is a mystery to me.
Rather than wasting your time slandering great men perhaps you should do something with your own life and grow to see the best in people.
I believe that Gandhi had a life long battle with his sexual urge and could not fully regulate it. being so sensitive to truth particularly to himself he devised these bizzare experiments to somehow satiat this urg without actually going the full way with his women companions. May be and it is not surprising, some of such experiments might have gone awefully wrong and he did have sex with some of those females. History will judge these episodes as one of his eccentricities but it is har to believe that he was a man living for sex and used his mahatma status to satiate this urge. All that it proves to me is that he was human who could not get over his sexual urges and may have erred on this path.
i think Gandhi is a great man and he would have done this experiments to make his willpower stronger.
And like somebody's comment, if he
really wanted have sex why would he publish this or write about this things in his book.
author of this site is also not wrong,
he may have written this because of human nature. i.e everybody wants to prove that he is superior then others.
From my experience i feel most difficult thing in this world is to control sexual urge and to channelize it properly.
Well researched, the Maha acts of a Mahatma.
Respected Author of this site, you did really a great job and hardwork to collect these all information about a man to whom people called Mahatma. A human body is just an instrument which we used to perform our Karma. Gandhi, where is now? He was not stupid, he who waste his life with open body and poorly just to show the way to others to find and get the real truth of life the peace. The peace is not a physical. This peace is related with heart. Our heart should be peaceful. You judged, Gandhi was stupid and so he did all stupid things in his life. But, as I saw your work above, how are you? How pure heart you have? Do you know the destiny of life? Can you bring back that day when you started this work? Sir, understand first yourself then try to judge others. Physical pleaser is just a maya and you are still in that. I think you are not a happy from your life. First find happiness and peace then do this kind of research. Your soul is going wrong direction. To pure it, just give 1 hour yourself and think who are you? And what is your achievement till now? How will be your end? And the most important is who are yours? Understand yourself first. May creator take care of you.
wellll done!!!!!
Your notes from many Gandhi's biographies and auto-biographies are fine.
Sexuality is human nature. Gandhi was brave enough to experiment and talk about it, control it(though not completely) and accept non-mastery.
Your intrepretations lead me to think that you are in desperate need to degrade the greatness of Gandhiji.
The person who wrote this article is definitely must have studied the topic thoroughly. He must have made lot of readings of different books on this subject. If the references given are true then we also should think as to why so many people have written on this subject. The article also states that great personalities like Vinobha Bhave, Sardar Vallabhai Patel criticized such experiments and asked Gandhiji to keep away from such things. Even Jawaharlal Nehru described Gandhiji's thinking (in this regard) as "abnormal and unnatural" (as per articles available on net). However great a person might be but if he/she indulges in such activities then it is really unfortunate. Some of the people who have written comments above have said that Gandhiji was a great person and he must have done these things as divine experiments. Even if we take it that way what about the lives of girls/ladies/women who took part in these experiments ? As per the articles Manuben was below the age of 18 and after Gandhiji's death she suffered lot of mental stress and lived a depressed and lonely life and died at the age of 41. Many of the ladies were married. What their husbands/family members must have felt? There is no need to criticize the writer. As a reporter he has tried to keep the facts open and when Gandhiji himself use to talk about this openly where is the need to hide anything. What to believe and what not to believe depends on every individual. Just think if any lady from your home would have been in such experiments how you would have felt. Therefore We should not have closed mentality. Because there are so many people (thought to be great), in political life also and in Social/Public life also, who take disadvantage of poor people from behind their greatness. However great a person is if he indulges in something drastically wrong then people should be made aware of that. If someone has done something good to society does not mean that he gets the right to do something wrong to the people. In fact authentic information should made available on these matters and let the people decide what is right and what is wrong.
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