Gandhi som asket

Gandhi skriver i sin självbiografi "An autobiography: The story of my experiments with truth" om när han  i vuxen ålder valde att svära brahmacharya eden.

"After full discussion and mature deliberation, I took the vow in 1906. I had not shared my thoughts with my wife until then, but only consulted her at the time of taking the vow. She had no objection. But I had great difficulty in making the final resolve. I had not the necessary strength. How was i to control my passions? The elimination of carnal relationship with one's wife seemed then a strange thing. But I launched forth with faith in the sustaining power of God.

[...]

The knowledge that a perfect observance of brahmacharya means realization of brahman, I did not owe to a study of the Shastras. It slowly grew upon me with experience. The shastric texts on the subject I read only later in life. Every day of the vow has taken me nearer the knowledge that in brahmacharya lies the protection of the body, the mind and the soul. For brahmachrya was now no process of hard penance, it was a matter of consolation aand joy. Every day revealed a fresh beauty in it."

Gandhi skriver även tidigare i sitt verk att hans diet ständigt var ett viktigt verktyg för honom att styra sitt liv genom. Man kan uppfatta det som att Gandhi såg själva avståendet från vissa saker som en källa till styrka vilken genom han kunde uppnå delar av det han uppnådde.