Other editions of book A Guide To Health

For more than twenty years past I have been paying special attention to the question of Health. While in England, I had to make my own arrangements for food and drink, and I can say, therefore, that my experience is quite reliable. I have arrived at certain definite conclusions from that experience, and I now set them down for the benefit of my readers. As the familiar saying goes, ‘Prevention is better than cure.’ It is far easier and safer to prevent illness by the observance of the laws of health than to set about curing the illness which has been brought on by our own ignorance and carelessness. Hence it is the duty of all thoughtful men to understand aright the laws of health, and the object of the following pages is to give an account of these laws. We shall also consider the best methods of cure for some of the most common diseases.As Milton says, the mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell. So heaven is not somewhere above the clouds, and hell somewhere underneath the earth! We have this same idea expressed in the Sanskrit saying, Mana êva Manushayanâm Kâranam Bandha Mokshayoh—man’s captivity or freedom is dependant on the state of his mind. From this it follows that whether a man is healthy or unhealthy depends on himself. Illness is the result not only of our actions but also of our thoughts. As has been said by a famous doctor, more people die for fear of diseases like small-pox, cholera and plague than out of those diseases themselves.

“In judging myself I shall try to be as harsh as truth, as I want others also to be.” – Gandhi “I am not pleading for India to practice nonviolence because it is weak. I want her to practice nonviolence being conscious of her strength and power.” - Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or Mahatma Gandhi as he is more popularly known, was called “Mahatma,” or “Great Soul” not only because of his extraordinary achievements as leader of the Indian independence movement, but also because of his beliefs, practices, and principles that demonstrated to the world the depths that one’s soul could have. Widely considered the father of India, the preeminent leader of the Indian struggle against British imperialism, and one of the most influential minds of the 20th century, Gandhi emerged to become one of the greatest advocates of peace and nonviolent resistance that the world has known. By leading a life of austerity and integrity, Gandhi became one of those rare leaders who preached through his own practices, motivating millions of people – rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians – to follow his principles of freedom and peace. Gandhi saw with his own eyes the negative impact of British colonialism on the Indian economy, culture, and identity, as did millions of other Indians. What made Gandhi unique was the fact that he also saw the enormously negative impact the diversity of the Indian population had on the struggle for Indian independence; divisions were rife between Hindus, Muslims, and dozens of other faiths, and the population was divided into hundreds of different ethnic groups, each with its own traditions and culture, and each unwilling to unite with other groups for the common cause of a free India. The caste system in India, as a long-standing social stratification system that placed severe and often permanent social restrictions on individuals according to which social classes they were born into, also played a large role in dividing Indian society. Gandhi recognized that these divisions were what weakened India’s chances to effectively oppose British imperialism and establish independence. As nationalism and independence movements began forming and spreading in the mid and late 1800s, Gandhi was able to unite these various ethnic groups, religious groups, and social groups and lead a unified Indian independence movement. The impact that Gandhi made was lasting, and his legacy can still be seen today. Gandhi was not a theorist or scholar in the traditional sense, and never professed to be one; he prided himself on instead being a reformer and a true activist, for he famously stated that “I am not built for academic writings…Action is my domain.” And yet, the action that Gandhi spoke of was not the violent and terror-invoking action that many other resistance movements took elsewhere in the world; Gandhi was guided by strict values, principles, and ideas of peace and nonviolence that remained remarkably enduring throughout his life.

As the familiar saying goes, ‘Prevention is better than cure.’ It is far easier and safer to prevent illness by the observance of the laws of health than to set about curing the illness which has been brought on by our own ignorance and carelessness. Hence it is the duty of all thoughtful men to understand aright the laws of health, and the object of the following pages is to give an account of these laws. We shall also consider the best methods of cure for some of the most common diseases. As Milton says, the mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell. So heaven is not somewhere above the clouds, and hell somewhere underneath the earth! We have this same idea expressed in the Sanskrit saying, Mana êva Manushayanâm Kâranam Bandha Mokshayoh—man’s captivity or freedom is dependant on the state of his mind. From this it follows that whether a man is healthy or unhealthy depends on himself. Illness is the result not only of our actions but also of our thoughts. As has been said by a famous doctor, more people die for fear of diseases like small-pox, cholera and plague than out of those diseases themselves. Ignorance is one of the root-causes of disease. Very often we get bewildered at the most ordinary diseases out of sheer ignorance, and in our anxiety to get better, we simply make matters worse. Our ignorance of the most elementary laws of health leads us to adopt wrong remedies or drives us into the hands of the veriest quacks. How strange (and yet how true) it is that we know much less about things near at hand than things at a distance. We know hardly anything of our own village, but we can give by rote the names of the rivers and mountains of England! We take so much trouble to learn the names of the stars in the sky, while we hardly think it worth while to know the things that are in our own homes! We never care a jot for the splendid pageantry of Nature before our very eyes, while we are so anxious to witness the puerile mummeries of the theatre! And in the same way, we are not ashamed to be ignorant of the structure of our body, of the way in which the bones and muscles, grow, how the blood circulates and is rendered impure, how we are affected by evil thoughts and passions, how our mind travels over illimitable spaces and times while the body is at rest, and so on. There is nothing so closely connected with us as our body, but there is also nothing perhaps of which our ignorance is so profound, or our indifference so complete. It is the duty of every one of us to get over this indifference. Everyone should regard it as his bounden duty to know something of the fundamental facts concerning his body. This kind of instruction should indeed be made compulsory in our schools. At present, we know not how to deal with the most ordinary scalds and wounds; we are helpless if a thorn runs into our foot; we are beside ourselves with fright and dismay if we are bitten by an ordinary snake! Indeed, if we consider the depth of our ignorance in such matters, we shall have to hang down our heads in shame. To assert that the average man cannot be expected to know these things is simply absurd. The following pages are intended for such as are willing to learn. I do not pretend that the facts mentioned by me have not been said before. But my readers will find here in a nutshell the substance of several books on the subject. I have arrived at my conclusions after studying these books, and after a series of careful experiments. Moreover, those who are new to this subject will also be saved the risk of being confounded by the conflicting views held by writers of such books. One writer says for instance, that hot water is to be used under certain circumstances, while another writer says that, exactly under the same circumstances, cold water is to be used. Conflicting views of this kind have been carefully considered by me, so that my readers may rest assured of the reliability of my own views.

'A Guide to Health' by Mahatma Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948). Gandhi was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, he led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi was a prolific writer. He wrote extensively on vegetarianism, diet and health, religion and social reforms.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

CONTENTS Translator’s Note Introduction Part I: General Chap. I. The Meaning of Health Chap. II. The Human Body Chap. III. Air Chap. IV. Water Chap. V. Food Chap. VI. How much and how many times should we eat? Chap. VII. Exercise Chap. VIII. Dress Chap. IX. Sexual Relations Part II: Some Simple Treatments Chap. I. Air Treatment Chap. II. Water Cure Chap. III. The Use of Earth Chap. IV. Fever and its Cures Chap. V. Constipation, Dysentery, etc. Chap. VI. Contagious Diseases Smallpox Chap. VII. Other Contagious Diseases Chap. VIII. Maternity and Child-Birth Chap. IX. Care of Child Chap. X. Accidents —Drowning Chap. XI. Do —Burns and Scalds Chap. XII. Do —Snake Bite Chap. XIII. Do —Scorpion-sting, etc. Chap. XIV. Conclusion

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Lang:- eng, Pages 159. Reprinted in 2016 with the help of original edition published long back[1921]. This book is in black & white, Hardcover, sewing binding for longer life with Matt laminated multi-Colour Dust Cover, Printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, there may be some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. (Customisation is possible). Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. Original Title: A guide to health 1921 [Hardcover], Original Author: Mahatma Gandhi