Mahatma Gandhi, famed for his eccentric theories of vegetarianism, bowel movements and the beneficial properties of human excrement, also forswore sexual relations at an early age. Why? He was forever scarred by the knowledge that, as a 16-year-old boy, he had left his dying father's side to make love to his wife Kasturba, and had been so engaged at the precise moment of the older man's death.
[At 36, Gandhi entirely renounced sex in order to devote his energy to public service. He observed the Hindu practice of Brahmacharya (celibacy) and, as a test of self-discipline, invited naked young women to share his bed. Total control over his "vital fluids," he believed, would enhance his spiritual powers.]
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