This article attempts to explore the connection between Gandhi’s spiritual quest, of which abstinence was a major component, and his politics. Gandhi was a deeply religious person. His politics, however, was secular in that it had little to do with the politics of religious identity. He would have found the notion of engaging in the politics of religious identity revolting, something that is borne out by his political practice. It was at the moment of the greatest crisis during the final phase of the anti-colonial struggle that he articulated his position with great clarity, and then went on to give it meaning through his presence in the countryside of Noakhali, and the refugee camps of Delhi.

The influences of the social milieu of his early life in Saurashtra, and the colonial condition, shaped his world view in significant ways. The concrete everyday experiences of his early life are useful for comprehending his ideas about austerity as a moral ideal. There was a close link between austerity and the endeavour to achieve control over the palate. Besides, the story of his long association with his childhood friend Sheikh Mehtab is revisited, in the light of recent research, to see how it might allow a better understanding of this link.

本文试图探讨甘地的精神追求与节制之间的联系，其中，禁欲是精神的主要组成部分。甘地是一个虔诚的人。然而，他的政治世俗化，与宗教认同的政治关系不大。他本来会发现从事宗教身份反抗政治的想法，这一点在他的政治实践中得到了证实。正是在反殖民斗争最后阶段最大的危机时刻，他非常清楚地阐明了自己的立场，然后通过他在诺阿卡利（Noakhali）的乡村和诺瓦利的难民营中的存在来赋予其意义。德里

他在索拉什特拉（Saurashtra）的早期生活所处的社会环境的影响以及殖民地的状况，在很大程度上改变了他的世界观。他早期生活中的具体日常经历对于理解他关于紧缩作为道德理想的观念很有用。紧缩与努力控制口感之间有着密切的联系。此外，根据最近的研究，回顾了他与童年时代的朋友谢赫·梅赫塔布（Sheikh Mehtab）长期交往的故事，以期了解如何更好地理解这一联系。