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INDIAN MEDICINE

[Mr. Gandhi, in opening the Tibbi College at Delhi, in the second week of February, 1921, said:—]

In order to avoid any misinterpretation of my views on medicine, I would crave your indulgence for a few moments over a very brief exposition of them. I have said in a book that is much criticised at the present moment that the present practice of medicine is the concentrated essence of black magic. I believe that a multiplicity of hospitals is no test of civilisation. It is rather a symptom of decay even as a multiplicity of Pinjrapoles is a symptom of the indifference to the welfare of their cattle by the people in whose midst they are brought into being. I hope, therefore, that this College will be concerned chiefly with the prevention of diseases rather than their cure. The science of sanitation is infinitely more ennobling, though more difficult of execution, than the science of healing, I regard the present system as black magic because it tempts people to put an undue importance on the body and practically ignores the spirit within. I would urge the students and professors of the College to investigate the laws governing the health of the spirit and they will find that they will yield startling results even with reference to the cure of the body. The present science of medicine is divorced from religion. No man who attends to his daily Namaj or his Gayatri in the proper spirit need get ill. A clean spirit must build a clean body. I am convinced that the main rules of religious conduct conserve both the spirit and the body. Let me hope and pray that this College