Mohan-Mala - Mahatma Gandhi

Mohan-Malashows it is as she carries the infant and feeds it during nine months and derivesjoy in the suffering involved. What can beat the suffering involved by the pangsof labour? But she forgets them in the joy of creation. Who, again, suffers dailyso that her babe may wax from day to day? Let her transfer that love to thewhole of humanity, let her forget that she was or can be the object of man’slust. And she will occupy her proud position by the side of man as his mother,maker and silent leader. It is given to her to teach the art of peace to thewarring world thirsting for that nectar.H, 24 Feb. 1940October 21There is as much reason for man to wish that the has born a woman as forwoman to do otherwise. But the wish is fruitless. Let us be happy in the stateto which we are born and do the duty for which nature has destined us.Ibid.October 22Chastity is not a hot house growth. It cannot be protected by the surroundingwall of the purdah. It must grow from within, and to be worth anything it mustbe capable of withstanding unsought temptation.YI, 3 Dec. 1927October 23And why is there all this morbid anxiety about female purity? Have women andsay in the matter of male purity? We hear nothing of women’s anxiety aboutmen’s chastity. Why should men arrogate to themselves the right to regulatefemale purity? It cannot be superimposed from without. It is a matter ofevolution from within and therefore of individual self effort.YI, 25 Nov. 1926www.mkgandhi.org Page 80