How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The shame [...] was this shame of my carnal desire even at the critical hour of my father's death, which demanded wakeful service. It is a blot I have never been able to efface or forget, and I have always thought that, although my devotion to my parents knew no bounds and I would have given up anything for it, yet it was weighed and found unpardonably wanting because my mind was at the same moment in the grip of lust. I have therefore always regarded myself as a lustful, though a faithful, husband. It took me long to get free from the shackles of lust, and I had to pass through many ordeals before I could overcome it. (1.9.10)
Gandhi says he's never been able to forget the shame of paying attention to sex instead of caring more fully for his fatally ill father. This incident may have played a big role in his later choice to become a brahmachari.
Quote #5
What then, I asked myself, should be my relation with my wife? Did my faithfulness consist in making my wife the instrument of my lust? So long as I was the slave of lust, my faithfulness was worth nothing. To be fair to my wife, I must say that she was never the temptress. It was therefore the easiest thing for me to take the vow of brahmacharya, if only I willed it. It was my weak will or lustful attachment that was the obstacle. (3.7.3)
Gandhi's wife doesn't protest when he considers giving up sex. So, it's his decision, not a joint one.
Quote #6
Many aspirants after brahmacharya fail, because in the use of their other senses they want to carry on like those who are not brahmacharis. Their effort is, therefore, identical with the effort to experience the bracing cold of winter in the scorching summer months. There should be a clear line between the life of a brahmachari and of one who is not. The resemblance that there is between the two is only apparent. The distinction ought to be clear as daylight. Both use their eyesight, but whereas the brahmachari uses it to see the glories of God, the other uses it to see the frivolity around him. Both use their ears, but whereas the one hears nothing but praises of God, the other feasts his ears upon ribaldry. [...] Thus both live as the poles apart, and the distance between them will grow and not diminish with the passage of time. (3.8.7)
Earlier we said a brahmachari is someone who gives up sex, but according to Gandhi, such a person needs to do more than abstain from sexual behavior. They also have to learn to restrain their other senses rather than indulge them.