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| Ambedkar and Buddhism, Social Justice for Dalits — A representative image. |
File Information
| Document Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | A Study on Contribution of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in Revitalization of Buddhism & Social Justice for Dalits in Modern India |
| Article Credit | Indian and World Social Reformers and Revolutionaries - Thought and Works, Vol.: I, Year: 2022, (Pubd in: Academia.edu) |
| Author | Smita Parmar (Research Scholar, Department of Social Work, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat) |
| Subject | This article studies Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's role in reviving Buddhism in modern India and his ideas on social justice for Dalits. It focuses on caste discrimination, untouchability, constitutional equality, and the political meaning of Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism. |
| Category | Academic article |
| Institution | Jyotikiran Publication, Pune |
| Country of Publication | India |
| Main Topics | Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Buddhism in modern India, Dalit social justice, Untouchability, Caste system, Indian Constitution, Buddhist revival movement, Social equality |
| Number of Pages | 7 |
| Language | English |
| File Type | |
| File Size | 170.0 KB |
Summary Note of this Document
A Study on Contribution of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in Revitalization of Buddhism & Social Justice for Dalits in Modern India
This article examines Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's contribution to the revitalization of Buddhism and to social justice for Dalits in modern India. It presents Ambedkar as both a constitutional thinker and an anti-caste reformer whose work linked religious change to social transformation. The paper argues that his conversion to Buddhism in 1956 was not only a personal religious act but also a political intervention aimed at challenging untouchability, caste hierarchy, and the denial of dignity to Dalits. It places this conversion within the longer history of Buddhist revival in India, including the Maha Bodhi Society, while showing how Ambedkar's mass conversion gave new momentum to the movement. The article also discusses his critique of Hindu caste practices, especially endogamy, untouchability, and Brahmanical patriarchy, and connects these critiques to his larger vision of liberty, equality, and fraternity. A significant portion of the paper relates Ambedkar's ideas to the Indian Constitution, particularly its promise of social, economic, and political justice and the abolition of untouchability under Article 17.
Core Themes
- Revival of Buddhism in India
- Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism
- Anti-untouchability struggle
- Dalit rights and upliftment
- Caste system and social inequality
Keywords
About Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891 as the fourteenth and youngest child of an army Subedar in Mhow. Born into the Mahar caste, which was considered untouchable, Bhimrao faced many hardships at school. He had to sit on a gunny sack that he brought from home. He was not allowed to touch the water vessel or cup, so he could drink water only when the school peon was present to pour it for him. He later described this experience with the words, “No peon, no water.” His mother died when he was very young, and he had a difficult childhood. However, he was the only one of his siblings to pass his examinations and continue to high school, becoming the first person from his community to attend Elphinstone College. With a scholarship from the Maharaja of Baroda, he went on to study at Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He earned doctorates in economics and trained as a barrister at Gray’s Inn. According to the account supplied for this biography, his books were lost when his ship was torpedoed during the First World War.
Despite his education, Ambedkar continued to face prejudice. When he returned to India, he was required to work in Baroda but had to leave the position because of discrimination. His business providing investment consultancy failed when clients learned that he belonged to a community considered untouchable. While working as a professor in Mumbai, his colleagues objected to the idea of him sharing a water jug with his students. These experiences helped spur his activism. He established newspapers to give a voice to marginalized people. He led the Mahad Satyagraha, asserting Dalits’ right to collect water from a public tank, and publicly burned the Manusmriti in 1927. In 1932, he negotiated the Poona Pact with Mahatma Gandhi. Although it involved a difficult compromise, the pact provided reserved seats in legislatures for the Depressed Classes. Ambedkar was outspoken in public life but private by nature. His wife Ramabai died in 1935, and he filled his home in Bombay with a large personal library reported to contain more than 50,000 books. He declared, “I am born a Hindu, but I will not die as one.”
During the period of Indian independence, Jawaharlal Nehru invited Ambedkar to become India’s first Law Minister. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee that prepared the Constitution of India, which abolished the practice of untouchability and established civil liberties and constitutional safeguards, including reservations for historically oppressed communities. He acknowledged the contribution of other constitutional experts, including B. N. Rau, who had prepared an earlier draft. Because of his poor health, including diabetes, Ambedkar married Savita, a doctor who cared for him. In October 1956, he converted to Buddhism in Nagpur along with a vast gathering of followers, commonly estimated at around half a million. He died in his sleep just weeks later, shortly after completing his final major work, The Buddha and His Dhamma. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990. His message, “Educate, agitate, organise,” continues to inspire people seeking equality and social justice.
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