Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) was one of the founders of the modern Indian nation, the architect of its constitution, and an innovative theorist of democracy who grounded social practice in monastic models and tribal principles. Born an outcaste, Ambedkar became a staunch advocate for human rights and led the single largest rituals of conversion from one religion to another in human history when he inspired fellow victims of caste consciousness to not merely criticize Hinduism, but to repudiate it entirely and adopt Buddhism instead. He led hundreds of thousands in a great liberating act of cultural catharsis that has since led to personal empowerment and spiritual renewal for millions more. He said:
A few entries ago, I listed Ambedkar, along with Gandhi, as an example of a modern Prophet with universal relevance. Prophets don’t have to share dogma or mythos, however, and can be opposed to one another on the cultural stage. Ambedkar’s work complemented Gandhi’s in many ways, but Ambedkar was also one of Gandhi’s chief critics, sometimes fiercely so. They especially differed on economic and educational intervention in rural village life—Ambedkar was more progressive and Gandhi more conservative; Ambedkar sometimes thought that Gandhi was a poseur and too beholden to Hindu orthodoxy and pointed out that terms like “Harijan” are condescending and can imply a warped sense of divine justice. (Ambedkar is open to criticism himself on such things as his ardent support for the partitioning of India and Pakistan). If Gandhi is kin to the later Martin Luther King, Jr., then Ambedkar is kin to the later (post-hajj) Malcolm X. Frederick Douglass, though, would be a better parallel—he and Ambedkar have much in common. Ambedkar is just as relevant to the world as Mohandas Gandhi. To the Pagan world, he may be more relevant.
Ambedkar’s community and nation were struggling with very basic principles of dignity and human rights. He felt that caste consciousness was ingrained in Hindu identity and that only by excising themselves from the Hindu cultural matrix would the victims of caste achieve a sense of self-worth and begin to overcome centuries of fatalist programming. Because Ambedkar saw Buddhism as democratic, peaceful and rational—while also being rooted in a broader Indian cultural identity--he chose it as his religion and urged the caste-stigmatized to do so as well. In so doing, he also had a strong effect on modern Buddhism and the “engaged Buddhist” movement.
Here is one anonymous writer’s description of Ambedkar:
…a symbol of self-determination, political acumen and devotion to one's ideals. As the second Untouchable to graduate from high school, the first to receive a B.A., the first to travel abroad and earn graduate degrees from Columbia University and London, and the first to become a Barrister-at-Law, Dr. Ambedkar devoted his life to freeing himself and his fellow Untouchables from the shackles of their "low" birth within Hindu society. Trained in Western philosophy and political theory, Dr. Ambedkar was also the first Untouchable to articulate the tragedy and aspirations of his people in terms of modern thought and modernistic forms of political and social action. He envisioned a constitution that would protect his fold from political misrepresentation, guaranteeing the Depressed Classes equal rights within the newly emerging nation. By the end of his life, Dr. Ambedkar had secured the valuable political concessions of reserved seats in the legislatures and government jobs, while also acquiring grants for land distribution, rural credit and investments in agriculture and business. Dr. Ambedkar, however, could not obtain the one safeguard that he believed would ensure just political representation for his fold: the right of separate electorates. This caused him to become extremely bitter, increasing his resentment towards the caste-Hindu dominated political environment. Despite his overall political success, Dr. Ambedkar realized that judicial injunctions against the discrimination of his people could only superficially protect them from upper-caste manipulation; therefore, he sought to devise a complete transformation of his followers' lives by fashioning for them a new cultural and social identity based upon religion. Buddhism fulfilled Dr. Ambedkar's criterion by providing him with an indigenous belief, based upon caste-less egalitarian ideals, through which he could weave his message of social morality and political activism within its tenets, while simultaneously creating a potential voting block or "communal collective consciousness" amongst the Maharashtrian Untouchables. In 1935, at the Depressed Classes Conference in Yeola, Dr. Ambedkar stated for the first time, his decision to convert himself and his followers to "any religion other than Hinduism." His promise finally came to fruition on October 14, 1956, just two months before his death, at a massive ceremony where he and approximately 380,000 of his followers recited an eight-vow pledge, renouncing Hinduism and proclaiming their obedience to Buddhism.Here’s what the Wikipedia entry has to say about Ambedkar’s constitutional sources:
In this task Ambedkar's study of sangha practice among early Buddhists and his extensive reading in Buddhist scriptures was to come to his aid. Sangha practice incorporated voting by ballot, rules of debate and precedence and the use of agendas, committees and proposals to conduct business. Sangha practice itself was modelled on the oligarchic system of governance followed byAnd here’s a bit about his conversion (and the largest single mass conversion in history):tribal republics of ancient India such as the Shakyas and the Lichchavis. Thus, although Ambedkar used Western models to give his Constitution shape, its spirit was Indian and, indeed, tribal.
Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on October 14, 1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to convert an estimated 380,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him. Taking the 22 Vows, Ambedkar and his supporters explicitly condemned and rejected Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. He then travelled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference. He completed The Buddha or Karl Marx on December 2, 1956. Just three days after completing his final manuscript, The Buddha and His Dhamma, it is said that Ambedkar died in his sleep on December 6, 1956 at his home in Delhi.Though American Pagan struggles are typically very different from the dire obstacles still faced by "low" born Indians, I take inspiration from the prophetic life and work of Dr. Ambedkar, especially the motto “If you want to be free, change your religion.” People come to Paganism for many reasons, but often their search begins because they feel themselves abject or outcast in the religions of the general population; this is true for many women, for Queer folk, and many others. For some, the religions of the general population never made sense or were never ethically, intellectually or aesthetically attractive. Paganism tends to value personal identity and civil liberties; it provides vibrant community while also supporting individual quests. As in Ambedkar’s constitutionalism, Paganism looks in part to the tribal past for models and inspiration and to previous eras in our own cultural histories. As Buddhism belongs to India, Paganism belongs to the heirs of Europe. For many (as for me) the conversion to Paganism restores dignity and living access to Spirit. It also inspires new visions of cultural and democratic possibilities and hope that a better and more balanced future is possible.
There are many other interesting parallels—one is in the area of “foundation myths” and the quest for a usable past. Witches and Pagans are familiar, no doubt, with the multiple perspectives on stories about the Burning Times, the role of Gerald Gardner, or the value of strict reconstruction. Ambedkar found his “usable past” in the idea that caste consciousness began when the Hindu revival displaced the once-dominant religion of Buddhism. Ambedkar theorized that those who did not convert or who otherwise became targets of restored Hinduism were stigmatized with the invention of the post-Vedic caste system. By converting to Buddhism, he reasoned, outcastes were asserting a suppressed identity and challenging at its roots the religious system that kept them oppressed. Whether or not this analysis is accurate, it is similar to the Pagan quest for a usable past (and to some of the answers we’ve arrived at in relation to Christianity and the European past). It is similar, too, to the feminist quest for such a past and to the analysis provided by Marija Gimbutas. In Ambedkar’s narrative of Indian Buddhists and in many Pagan narratives of Indigenous European religion, re-conversion to the perceived primal becomes personally and culturally liberating, a powerful act of re-creation. Ambedkar calls us to more than accountability alone—he calls us to mightiness.
Nowadays, “Change your religion” can mean at least two things—get a new one or improve the one you’ve got. For me, it meant rejecting the nominal religion of my immediate ancestors—and looking for one that seemed more ethical and more fulfilling, with greater democracy and evidence of creativity and might. After a productive journey through East Indian traditions, I found my religion in contemporary Paganism.
--Prophet Bhimrao Ambedkar
“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”
-- Prophet Bob Marley
-- Prophet Gautama Buddha
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