Gandhi’s cosmic body and the Chauri Chaura incident: The political and moral dynamics of India’s national movement, 1919–1922

This article explores the underlying rationale of Gandhi’s ‘sudden’ decision to suspend the Non-Cooperation Movement following the Chauri Chaura incident through the lens of his experiments with brahmacarya (celibate self-control). Although existing scholarship has extensively studied the incident, a crucial paradox remains unexplained: Gandhi halted the movement after Chauri Chaura with its 22 deaths, yet remained ‘silent’ about other mass violence, including the devastating Malabar Rebellion which reportedly claimed 10,000 lives. This article reveals that Gandhi’s practice of vīryasaṅgrah (semen concentration), previously overlooked in historical analyses, holds a key to understanding this decision. Within his corporeal cosmology, mastery over sensual desires manifested as ‘peace ( śānti )’ and generated the ‘power ( baḷ, śakti )’ of non-violence. Conversely, failure in sexual self-control materialized in ‘violence ( hiṃsā )’, disrupting individual and social harmony. Through this embodied spiritual framework, Gandhi ultimately interpreted Chauri Chaura as a manifestation of his failed inner experiments, compelling him to suspend the movement.