Description

Gandhiji wrote these chapters while he was confined in the Aga Khan Palace at Poona during
1942-1944. As the manuscript indicates he began to pen them on 27-8-1942 and completed them on 18-12-1942. To him the subject was so important that he hesitated to release them at once, and took time to go through them again and again till the treatment was to his full satisfaction. He intended to correct these chapters if his ever-growing experience so dictated. The original was written in Gujarati and Gandhiji got it translated into Hindustani and English by Dr. Sushila Nayar under his own guidance. He also went through both the translations to give them the final touches..

"It is necessary to understand the meaning of the word health, before entering upon a description of the human body. In health, means body ease. He is a healthy man whose body is free from all disease; he carries on his normal activities without fatigue. Such a man should be able with ease to walk ten to twelve miles a day, and perform ordinary physical labour without getting tired. He can digest ordinary simple food. His mind and his senses are in state of harmony and poise. This definition does not include prize fighters and such like. A man with extraordinary physical strength is not necessarily healthy. He has merely developed his musculature, possibly
at the expense of something else."