Service among wounded Zulus crystallized Gandhi’s commitment to celibacy and poverty

Evidence

While I was working with the Corps, two ideas which had long been floating in my mind became firmly fixed. First, an aspirant after a life exclusively devoted to service must lead a life of celibacy. Second, he must accept poverty as a constant companion through life. He may not take up any occupation which would prevent him or make him shrink from undertaking the lowliest of duties or largest risks. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 208

Categorization

• QUESTION: Biographical mechanism worth probing: why would seeing flogged Zulu corpses ground a vow of celibacy? Psychological logic unclear and worth chasing.