Am Ambedkar's Conversion E lea leanor nor / ellio elliott © The Autho Author, r, 2005 Cover Cover:: Shanii Swaroop roop Bauddh Bauddh Printin Printing g : Gautain utain Punters, New Delhi Pu Publisher Critical Que Quest 420, 20, GG -Bl Block, ock, Pha Phase se VI, VI, Aya Aya Nag Nagar, New Delhi - 110047 Phone: hone: 011 26502012; Mobi Mobile: 99100365 9910036543 43 E-Mail: criti criticalquest@ calquest@ginai ginai1.
Am Ambedkar's Conversion Amb Ambedkar ma made the fir first de defin finite announcement th that he he was le leaving the fold of of Hin Hinduism duism in 1935. His words at the Depresse pressed d Cla Classes sses Conf Confe erence rence at Yeola ola, near near Nasik, on October ctober 13, "I will ill not not d die ie a Hindu," Hindu," came came as a shock to most most of of India, but within within the Mahar Mahar caste caste itself tself a consider considera able amount of of preparati preparatio on for such such a move move had had taken taken place place.. In an an ear early ly editorial editorial in Mu Muknayak (The (The Voice of of the Dumb), Ambed Ambedka kar's r's first first newspa newspaper per sta starte rted d in 1920 1920,, he wrote, wrote, "We are are not not yet ready ready to give give an answer answer to the questi questio on of whether whether the Untoucha Untouchabl bles es should have a te temple mple of their own own or attem attempt pt to enter enter the Hindu temple.' temple.'"" The questi questio on seems to have have been answe answere red d in favor vor of of the latter latter alterna alternati tive ve by by 192 1929, when Ambedka Ambedkarr convin convince ced d Mahars hars planning planning to build build a Cokha Cokhamela mela temple temple at the pilg pilgrimag rimage center center o off Trym Trymbak, bak, thesourceof the the Go Godavari davari River, River, which runs runs throug through h Nasik, Nasik, that they should should not build build such atemple, temple, but should should instea instead d devote devote their their energ energies ies to removin removing g untoucha untouchabi bili lity.2Fo ty.2Forr a perio period d beginn beginning ing abo about ut two yea years bef before this decision decision and conti continuin nuing g for for three three or four ye years after, ter, Ambedka A mbedkarr eit either her partici participate pated d in or or co condone ndoned severa several attemp attempts ts to cla claim rights rights withi within n Hinduism. Hinduism. Efforts to take take part part in the Bomba Bombay y Ga Ganpati festiva stival, a cere ceremony mony of of donni donning ng the the sa sacred cred threa thread at a Ratnag Ratnagiin conf confer erence ence,, a perfo performance rmance of of a wedding wedding in Vedic V edic ritual style, style, and the templ temple e satyag satyagrahas rahas at at A Amraot mraotii, Poo Poona and Na Nasik, were were all all part part of a program program to force recogn recogniti ition on of o f the Hindu status status of of Untouc Untoucha hables bles.. Conco Concomitant mitant wit with h these efforts, howe however, ver, and perfo performed rmed with more energ energy y and enthusias enthusiasm m on the part part of of Ambedka Ambedkar, r, were were fa far larg larger pro programs rams of of educa educatio tional nal and and poli politi tica call activity, activity, and in his his many many repre represe sentatio ntations ns bef before British commiss commissio ions ns Ambe Ambedka dkarr not only criticized criticized Hinduism Hinduism but stre stress sse ed the separ separa ateness teness of of Unto Untoucha uchables bles from caste caste Hindus Hindus.. "It does not not matter matter whether whether I call call myself a Hindu Hindu or a nonnon-H Hin indu du as long long as I am outside outside the the pale pale of the Hin indu du commu community," nity," he told told the Simon imon Commissio Commission n in 1928 1928.3A .3Att the Round Round Table Table Co Confer nference ence,, he sug suggested ested that Unto Untouchables be called "Protesta Protestant nt Hindus" Hindus" or or "Non-conf n-confo ormist rmist Hindus."4B Hindus."4By y 19 1933, Ambe Ambedka dkarr is said to have have tol told Ga Gandhi that the Depresse epressed d Cla Classes sses did did not not want want to be Shudras hudras in the the caste caste system system,, and that he hi himsel mselff could could no not honestly honestly call call himself Hindu.5I Hindu.5Itt wa was perha perhaps on on this point point that his his rejectio rejection n of of Hinduism Hinduism turned. Ga G andhi's ndhi's stress stress on V arnashrama (the traditio traditional four class class sys system tem)) reca recall lled ed Tilak's attitude, attitude, "H "Hin induism duism abso absorbed rbed the Shudras, hudras, can can it not not also
Am Ambedkar's Conversion Amb Ambedkar ma made the fir first de defin finite announcement th that he he was le leaving the fold of of Hin Hinduism duism in 1935. His words at the Depresse pressed d Cla Classes sses Conf Confe erence rence at Yeola ola, near near Nasik, on October ctober 13, "I will ill not not d die ie a Hindu," Hindu," came came as a shock to most most of of India, but within within the Mahar Mahar caste caste itself tself a consider considera able amount of of preparati preparatio on for such such a move move had had taken taken place place.. In an an ear early ly editorial editorial in Mu Muknayak (The (The Voice of of the Dumb), Ambed Ambedka kar's r's first first newspa newspaper per sta starte rted d in 1920 1920,, he wrote, wrote, "We are are not not yet ready ready to give give an answer answer to the questi questio on of whether whether the Untoucha Untouchabl bles es should have a te temple mple of their own own or attem attempt pt to enter enter the Hindu temple.' temple.'"" The questi questio on seems to have have been answe answere red d in favor vor of of the latter latter alterna alternati tive ve by by 192 1929, when Ambedka Ambedkarr convin convince ced d Mahars hars planning planning to build build a Cokha Cokhamela mela temple temple at the pilg pilgrimag rimage center center o off Trym Trymbak, bak, thesourceof the the Go Godavari davari River, River, which runs runs throug through h Nasik, Nasik, that they should should not build build such atemple, temple, but should should instea instead d devote devote their their energ energies ies to removin removing g untoucha untouchabi bili lity.2Fo ty.2Forr a perio period d beginn beginning ing abo about ut two yea years bef before this decision decision and conti continuin nuing g for for three three or four ye years after, ter, Ambedka A mbedkarr eit either her partici participate pated d in or or co condone ndoned severa several attemp attempts ts to cla claim rights rights withi within n Hinduism. Hinduism. Efforts to take take part part in the Bomba Bombay y Ga Ganpati festiva stival, a cere ceremony mony of of donni donning ng the the sa sacred cred threa thread at a Ratnag Ratnagiin conf confer erence ence,, a perfo performance rmance of of a wedding wedding in Vedic V edic ritual style, style, and the templ temple e satyag satyagrahas rahas at at A Amraot mraotii, Poo Poona and Na Nasik, were were all all part part of a program program to force recogn recogniti ition on of o f the Hindu status status of of Untouc Untoucha hables bles.. Conco Concomitant mitant wit with h these efforts, howe however, ver, and perfo performed rmed with more energ energy y and enthusias enthusiasm m on the part part of of Ambedka Ambedkar, r, were were fa far larg larger pro programs rams of of educa educatio tional nal and and poli politi tica call activity, activity, and in his his many many repre represe sentatio ntations ns bef before British commiss commissio ions ns Ambe Ambedka dkarr not only criticized criticized Hinduism Hinduism but stre stress sse ed the separ separa ateness teness of of Unto Untoucha uchables bles from caste caste Hindus Hindus.. "It does not not matter matter whether whether I call call myself a Hindu Hindu or a nonnon-H Hin indu du as long long as I am outside outside the the pale pale of the Hin indu du commu community," nity," he told told the Simon imon Commissio Commission n in 1928 1928.3A .3Att the Round Round Table Table Co Confer nference ence,, he sug suggested ested that Unto Untouchables be called "Protesta Protestant nt Hindus" Hindus" or or "Non-conf n-confo ormist rmist Hindus."4B Hindus."4By y 19 1933, Ambe Ambedka dkarr is said to have have tol told Ga Gandhi that the Depresse epressed d Cla Classes sses did did not not want want to be Shudras hudras in the the caste caste system system,, and that he hi himsel mselff could could no not honestly honestly call call himself Hindu.5I Hindu.5Itt wa was perha perhaps on on this point point that his his rejectio rejection n of of Hinduism Hinduism turned. Ga G andhi's ndhi's stress stress on V arnashrama (the traditio traditional four class class sys system tem)) reca recall lled ed Tilak's attitude, attitude, "H "Hin induism duism abso absorbed rbed the Shudras, hudras, can can it not not also
4
A mbedkar kars Conversion
absorb the Untoucha Untouchables? bles?""6Ambedkar mbedkar later fot fotmu mula lated ted his rejectio rejection n of of Gandhi's andhi's anti-unto anti- untouchabih uchabihty ty campaig campaign n in words words tha that reveal reveal his fea fear that Unto Untouchables uchables might might lose lose their separa separateness teness onl nly y to find find themselv themselves es in the theoreticall theoretically y lo lowe west Hindu Hindu ca category: "Mr. Gandhi's ndhi's an anti- untoucha untouchabil bilit ity y mea means that the the Unto Untouchables wi will be classe classed d as Shudras Shudras instead o off being class classed ed as as Ati Ati-Sh -Shudras (Last-Sh -Shudras, meaning beneath the Shudras.) Mr. Gan Gandhi has not not consi considere dered d the questi questio on whether the old Shudras Shudras wil willl accept accept the new Shudras into their fold."7 Amb Ambedkar made one of his most pessimistic statements on Hinduism and untouchabil untouchabilit ity y to the Indian Franchise Franchise Committee Committee in 1932. It It should be rea read not not onl only y in the light of of the battle over over separ separate ate electora lectorates tes but also in in viiew of Gan v Gandhi's statement that untouchability was rapidly disappearing. . .the .the system system of caste caste and the system system of untoucha untouchabil bilit ity y form form rea really lly the stee steel frame of Hindu Hindu society. This This divisio division n cannot easil easily yb be e wiped wiped out for the simple rea reason tha that it is not base based d on rati ratio onal, economic economic or racial racial gro ground unds. s.... the chance chances are are that untouchabil untouchabilit ity yw wil illl endure far long longer erinto into the future than than the optimist ptimist ref reformeris likely likely to admit admit on account ccount of of the fact fact that that it is based sed on on re relig ligious ious dogma.. dogma...T .The he ordina rdinary Hindu lo looks upon upon it as part part of of Iris Iris religion religion and there is no doubt doubt that that in adopt adoptin ing g to towa wards untouchables untouchables what what is deem deemed ed to be an inhuman way way of of behavior behavior he does so more from from the sense sense of observing bserving his reli relig gion ion than from from any any mot motiv ive e of of deli delibe bera rate te cruelty. cruelty. Based Based on reli relig gion, ion, the ordinary Hindu Hindu only only relaxes laxes the rules of untoucha untouchabi bili lity ty where where he he canno cannott obser observe ve them them. He never never abandons abandons them them. For aba abandon ndonme ment nt of of untouchability untouchability to him him invol involves ves a total abando bandonme nment nt of of thebasic basic reli relig gious ious tene tenets of Hinduism Hinduismas understood rstood by him and the ma mass of of Hin indus. dus.... Indian ndian history history records the attempts ttempts of many many a Mahatma hatma to uproot uproot untoucha untouchabil bilit ity y from from the Indian Indian soil. They include include such great men men asBuddha, Ramanuj Ramanuja a and theVaishnava aishnava saint saints s of of modern tim times. es. It would be hazardous to assume assume that that a syste system m which has has withsto withstood od all this onsla onslaug ught ht will coll collapse apse.. .. ," ,"8 Even in the midst midst of o f the period period of temple temple--entry efforts, Ambe Ambedka dkarr had had occasio ccasionall nally y spo spoken ken of conversio conversion n in public public speec speeche hes. s. In 192 1929 at Jalgao algaon, a town to wn on the rail railway way line line between between Nasik Nasik and and Na Nagpur, he stated stated that Untoucha Untouchables bles should should embra embrace ce othe otherr religio religions ns if their disabilidcs were were not lif lifted, and wit withi hin n a mont month, h, twelve Maha Mahars rs in the the area rea had had embrace embraced d Islam. Islam.9 9 Alt Although co conversion was not the dominant idea in the air at that time, at least east one one oth other er such suggesti suggestio on was made at at a Mahar Mahar meetin meeting. g. In 1930 1930 at a meeting meeting held at the K oreg regaon memorial near near Poo Poona, D. Patel Patel of of Nagpur Nagpur
A mbedkars Conversion
5
"thought that it would be advisable that the Depressed Classes should embrace Buddhism.""1In 1933 there were rumors that Ambedkar himself would become aMoslem, which he denied vehemently, adding that perhaps he might become a Buddhist.11 The idea of conversion, of course, was not unknown to Mahars. Although there are no reliable statistics, it is probable that the majority of Christian converts in Maharashtra (excluding Goanese Christians) are from the Mahar caste. While the memory of caste status has^not persisted in Islam in Maharashtra in the same way that it has in Christianity (except for such recent merchant group converts as the Bohras and the Khojas,) it is also likely that a number of Muslims in that state are also converts from the Mahar caste. It was a common idea that conversion brought release from the constraints of untouchability, although this seems not to have been true unless the convert became educated and did not follow a stigmatized occupation. The petition for army re-admittance of 1910 states this assumption about conversion boldly: "The kindly touch of the Christian religion elevates the Mahar at once and for ever socially as well as politically, and shall not the magic power of British law and British justice produce the same effect upon us, even as followers of our own ancestral faith?"12 The failure of Mahar efforts to secure the right of entering Hindu temples after eight years of satyagraha must also be seen as preparation for the conversion announcement. Ambedkar's initial statement was made at Yeola, no .r from the scene of the massive five-year Kalaram temple satyagraha in which many of his audience must have participated. The lack of much meaningful response to Gandhi's intensive temple entry propaganda after 193213and the defeat of several temple entry bills in legislature, chiefly that of Ranga Iyer's temple entry bill in the Central Assembly in 1934,11added to the senseof frustration. Contrary to popular opinion,13Gandhi neither fasted nor performed satyagraha for temple entry, feeling that it was a matter to be decided by the majority of temple attenders. Ambedkar remained aloof from' Gandhi's efforts at propaganda, but was critical when Gandhi did not carry through a threatened fast if the Gumvayur Temple in Malabar was not opened to Untouchables.16Ambedkar also refused to give support to temple entry bills on thegrounds that referendum to amajority to determine entrance was unrealistic, that the temple entry bills did not condemn untouchability per se, and that accepting temple entry without doing away with the caste system itself would be tantamount to temporizing with evil.17 There was no charge made at the time of the Yeola conversion speech that this was an effort of Ambedkar's to undergird theidea of political separation.
6
A mbedkar'sConversion
On Ambedkar's part, the decision seems to have been made on intellectual and emotional grounds, a stab at the religion, which denied him equality and self-respect. But it not only allowed him an opportunity to express what was undeniably an anguish of spirit, it served as a threat, both to the reputation of Hinduism for tolerance and to Hindus as apolitical entity. 'Hie response from Ambedkar's followers was indicative of their acceptance of his leadership, but was also based on the fact that they had wholeheartedly entered into a battle for temple entry, the sign of their rights as Hindus, and lost.
The Announcement of Conversion On October 13,1935, ten thousand people, including some from Hyderabad and the Central Provinces, gathered at Yeola, a town on the Dhond-Manmad railway line some 35 miles from Nasik, to attend the Bombay Presidency Depressed Classes Conference. In a speech that lasted an hour and a half, Ambedkar as President of the Conference reminded his audience of their failure to secure elementary rights or equal status in Hindu society through the Kalaram temple entry movement, and said: "Becausewe have the misfortune of callingourselves Hindus, we are treated dius. If wewere members of another Faith, none would dare treat us so. Choose any religion, which gives you equality of status and treatment. We shall repair our mistakenow. I had the misfortune of being born with the stigmaof an Untouchable. However, it is not my fault; but I will not die a Hindu, for this is in my power."18 Ambedkar advised Untouchables to sink their internal differences and petty jealousies and present a united front to the outside world in the coming elecdons, selecdng the right men to represent them and working to secure their rightful place in the new councils. The political advice came at the end of the speech, most of which was devoted to the disabilities of Untouchables within Hinduism, and the futility of their efforts to remove those disabilities. Conversion was put on an individual, not a mass, basis. The resolutions of the Conference included an instruction to stop temple entry movements and an exhortation to cease fruitless attempts to gain status on Hindu terms.19 Gandhi's reaction to Ambedkar's Yeola speech and the Conference resolutions was .that they were "unbelievable" and "unfortunate:" "I can understand the anger of a high-souled and highly educated person like Dr. Ambedkar over such atrocities as have been committed in Kavitha and other villages. But religion is not like a house-or a cloak which can be changed at will... I am convinced that change of Faith by him and those who have passed the
A mbedkar's Conversion
1
resolution will not serve the cause which they have at heart, for millions of unsophisticated and illiterate Harijans will not listen to him and then when they have disowned their ancestral Faith, especially when it is remembered that their lives, for good or evil, are intertwined with those of Caste Hindus."20 Ambedkar answTered Gandhi with more restraint than he often used, as if the solemnity of his decision sobered him: "What religion we shall belong to we have not yet decided; what ways and means we shall adopt we have not thought out. But we have decided one thing, and that after due deliberation and with deep conviction that the Hindu religion is not good for us...Let none think that I have done this in a huff or as a matter of wrath against the treatment meted to the Depressed Classes at Kavitha village or any other place. It is a deeply deliberated decision. I agree with Mr. Gandhi that religion is necessary, but I do not agree that man must have his ancestral religion...I have made up my mind to change my religion. I do not care if the masses do not come. It is for them to decide...My own advice is that Mr. Gandhi should allow the Depressed Classes to chalk out their own line of action. Kavitha does not represent an isolated incident, but it is the very basis of the system founded on the ancestral religion of the Hindus."21 Gandhi and Ambedkar both saw the situation with partial vision. Gandhi, although he called himself an Untouchable "by choice," looked at the total Indian situation through caste Hindu eyes, seeing the Untouchables as a great suffering mass of humanity, inextricably bound up in caste Hindu life, needing the elemental rights of human beings. In a talk with John R. Mott, he described the Untouchables as "cows" unable to understand the distinctions between Christianity and Hinduism.22The words were not cynical, but revealed the outsider looking with pity at degraded humanity. Ambedkar, education and accomplishments notwithstanding, looked from within the caste. His reaction and that of many Mahars to the failure of the struggle for religious rights may be compared to that of village Untouchables in Orissa who, in Frederick Bailey's words, "cannot rise within the existing ritual and political structure of the village.. .they are showing the first signs of becoming a separate village community."23The gaining of some economic advantage, some political recognition and educational facilities may have added to the frustration over the lack of similar progress in the area of religion. Ambedkar's rejection of Hinduism may be read as an attempt to
8
A mbedkar V Conversion
force Hindus to "modernize" their theology, allowing areligious development parallel to the partial modernization of occupation and political structure. Although Ambedkar had not been the dominant leader in the temple entry movement that he was in the political field, his name was identified with all progress, and many Mahars followed him in rejecting Hinduism. The resolution passed by the Yeola Conference, and printed regularly on the front page of Janata following the Conference, stresses the rejection of Hinduism because of the obduracy of Hindu society to their demands: To The Untouchable Community: A New Message O f The New Manu The Untouchable Classes of Bombay Province performed satyagraha at the Kalaram Temple in Nasik and at Chowdar Tank in Mahad for the purpose of bringing equality and cooperation between so-called touchable and so-called untouchable classes, who have neither strength nor unlimited manpower nor wealth. The Kalaram temple satyagraha was begun six years ago and has been going on through all these years. But it seems that the so-called touchable Hindu prejudice has not lessened even a little. Not only this, but the behavior of these classes makes it clear that they do not give a cowrie's worth of value to the strengthening of Hindu society, or to the increase of cooperation between touchable and untouchable. Therefore this Conference of Untouchable castes has made a public resolution that since there is no use at all in trying to gain th^favor of the Hindus, they should now cease spending their strength without reason, and from now on should close the satyagraha campaign. It is this Conference's opinion that we should now make our society independent of the so-called touchable classes. The untouchable classes ought to try to win, single-mindedly, aplace of equality and respect for our community in another society in Hindustan.24 Within a month of the Yeola statement, 800 young men, most of them undoubtedly Mahars, met in Nasik road, a suburb of Nasik, and ceremoniously burnt Manusmriti, the ancient Hindu law code that had also served as a symbol of revolt at Mahad in 1927. The group resolved not to participate in jatras (Hindu Festivals and Fairs), visit holy places, give money to priests or observe Hindu festivals. The temple-entry satyagraha was declared at an end and the Agitation Committee dissolved.25On the same day, November 9, 1935, a group in Nagpur formed a Hindu-dharma-tyag
A mbedkar's Conversion
9
(Disassociation from Hinduism) committee; in order to prepare a list of Untouchables agreeable to conversion.26A Poona Depressed Class Youth Conference held in January, 1936, where Ambedkar made another strong speech, repeated the resolve to leave Hinduism.27A pro-conversion meeting ^was held again in Nagpur on April 14, Ambedkar's birthday, with Patitpawan Baba, a man who had fasted during the Nasik satyagraha, presiding, and Christian missionaries and Muslim maulavis in attendance. Ambedkar's leadership was recognized, although he was not present, and "two casteHindu speakers who wanted them to reconsider their decision were jeered at by thevast crowd."28Nagpur reaction to Ambedkaris the more remarkable because the most important Nagpur Mahar reformer, Kisan Fagu Bansode, had worked all his life for religious rights within Hinduism, and strongly opposed the conversion announcement. No group Mahar disavowals of Ambedkar's announcement made the public press. Three Bombay Chambhars, P. Balu, P. N. Rajbhoj and N. S. Kajrolkar, criticised Ambedkar publicly, as did his associate from a Gujarati Scheduled Caste, Dr. P. G. Solanki, although Solanki later returned to Ambedkar's movement. Outside Maharashtra, the three best known Untouchables' leaders aside from Ambedkar in the public field, Rao Bahadur R. Srinivasan, who had served as a delegate to the Round Table Conference, Jagjivan Ram, who later joined the Congress party in Bihar, and M. C. Rajah, the first Untouchable to serve on the Central Legislative Assembly rejected the idea of conversion, as did a number of Untouchable groups. Of all the orthodox Hindu responses, that of the Mahasabha was most conciliatory. N. C. Kelkar, a Poona Brahman, noted at the December, 1935, All India Hindu Mahasabha meeting in Poona that "apart from Dr. Ambedkar not taking count of non-Mahar Harijans in his enterprise, even the Mahars as awhole class do not appear to look with favor upon the drastic method proposed by him for getting social justice."29Nevertheless, the following speeches and actions at the Mahasabha meeting dealt seriously with the idea of conversion. The President of this Mahasabha session, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, addressed himself to correcting injustices within Hinduism and protecting the Hindu religion. He announced his intention of raising a fund in the coming year in order to give Untouchables Mantra Diksha (conversion or acceptance into Hinduism by sacred formula) "with which all their disabilities would go except those of dinner and marriage." He added, "Let the Harijans not forsake it (Hinduism) and wewill apply the dust under their feet to our foreheads." A resolution was passed by the Mahasabha, reaffirming its previous resolutions giving equal access to all
10
Ambedkar'sConversion
Hindus irrespective of caste to all public amenities, institutions and places of worship. "It further recommends to the Hindus the abandonment of all distinctions in the Hindu society based on birth or caste in the sphere of public, social and political life in which such distinctions ought to have no applications and are out of place in the present age."30 An interesting side-light on the passing of these resolutions at the Mahasabha meeting is offered in a biographical essay on Jagjivan Ram. According to this source, there was a battle between the Shankaracharya (Dr. Kurtakoti) and Jagjivan Ram over the admission of Harijans to the garbghara or innermost temple. Malaviya, Moonje and M. R. Jayakar supported Ram, who threatened to walk out with thirty others if the resolution was not passed. At 2:00 a.m. the opposition gave in and the resolution was voted in. "WhenJagjivan Ram and his colleagues came out of the conference they were accosted by a group of Ambedkar's men who thanked them for the cause of the depressed. They said, 'If you had behaved otherwise, we had decided to teach you all a good lesson."31 Perhaps the greatest response to Ambedkar's statement outside Maharashtra came from the Iravas of the Malabar area, a Depressed Class which had gone through a process of awakening somewhat similar to the Mahars, although their chief leader, Sri Narayana Guru, was more concerned with religion than with political matters.32In Malabar, K. C. Kuttan, General Secretary of theAll Kerala Ezhava (one of several variant spellings of Irava) Youth Conference, requested Ambedkar to preside at a meeting of the Conference, writing "in the name of 25 lakhs" of Iravas and Tiyas, the northern branch of Iravas. Although the Vaikom temple road satvagraha in Travancore in 1924-1925 had been joined by Gandhi and congressmen, Kuttan exhibited no respect for theGandhian movement: "MahatmaGandhi is only a Hindu of the third class. He has no authority to speak in the name of Hinduism. His opinion will be disregarded by the Brahmans who are the first class people among the Hindus. The Mahatma's arguments are all for not showing any decreasein the strength of the Hindu population in India."33 The Examiner reported on November 30,1935, that if Ambedkar decided in favor of Christianity, thousands of Iravas were ready to embrace that religion.34Meanwhile the Maha Bodhi Society reported that "as a result of the Nasik manifesto, some Buddhist monks from Ceylon have come to Malabar with a missionary aim."35In the following year, five Tiyas became Sikhs.36Abdullah Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's Muslim convert son, traveled on a propaganda tour for Islam in Kerala,37and the Examiner reported that "the whole of Malabar has been thrown into a ferment by the activities of
A mbedkar's Conversion
11
those who want to take advantage of the resolutions adopted by members of the Depressed Classes community, especially by Ezhavas, both in Travancore and Cochin, to leave Hinduism and to accept another religion that will accord them social equality and religious freedom."38In the midst ®f this ferment, on November 12, 1936, all temples controlled by the State and the ruling family in Travancore were thrown open to all Hindus in one of the most radical temple entry moves in India before Independence. Such aresponse was not fordicomingin Maharashtra, although His Holiness Shri Sankaracharya of Karwar Math, Dr. Kurtakoti, addressed Hindus at Nasik on October 21,1935, offering to perform mass conversions ofHarijans and to found a new sect with equal status with other sections of Hinduism.31' And shordy after the Yeola meeting, Ambedkar had a long conversation at Bassein with Masurkar Maharaj (the appendage, Maharaj, indicates a recognized holy man,) a Hindu missionary who had been active in reclaiming Goanese to Hinduism. It is reported that Ambedkar told Masurkar Maharaj that it was in the hands of caste Hindus to avert the tragedy of a mass exodus from Hinduism. When asked how, Ambedkar replied that caste Hindu leaders should give a pledge that untouchability would be extirpated within a prescribed period. He said diat he would wait five or ten years but added that in the meantime K. I<. Sakat, an Untouchable who according to Kesari (the Poona newspaper founded by Tilak) school of thought, was an exemplary Hindu, should be elevated to the position of Shankaracharya for a year and so acknowledged by Chitpavan Brahmans.40 The All-Bombay District Mahar Conference, charged with making adecision on conversion for the caste, was held May 30-31, 1936, on a maidan in the Naigao area of Dadar in Bombay, where there is a large concentration of working-class Mahars. B. S. Venkatrao, the "Hyderabadi Ambedkar," was president, and B. K. Gaikwad of Nasik, leader of the Kalaram satyagraha, moved the resolution for conversion. Ambedkar's address, however, was the main feature of the conference. He characterized the problem of untouchability us ”a problemof class-strife. It is a strife between two societies, the Caste-Hindus and die Untouchables." In his address he did give attention to the problem of the Untouchables as a weak minority, but dealt with Gandhi's statement on the intermixed life of caste Hindus and Untouchables by an analogy with Islam: "In this presidency... where there are three or four families of Mahars, there are only one or two of Mohammedans. But nobody molests the Mohammedans. But over you there is utter tyranny.
12
Ambedkar's Conversion What is the reason?...there can be only one explanation: behind those two families there is the whole might and power of Muslim ' India...you should look for this indispensable power from some source outside the Hindu fold."
He went on to stress inequality within Hinduism, and the separation of the Untouchables themselves into castes as a reflection of the established hierarchy. "To remain in Hinduism and to attempt to abolish caste system is like sweetening poison."41 As he neared the end of his oration, Ambedkar put Inis plea for conversion in a sort of litany, which in the printed Marathi version is lifted out and placed at the front in a poetical format: Religion is for man; man is not for religion. If you want to gain self-respect *, change your religion. If you want to create a cooperating society* change your religion. If you want power, change your religion. If you want equality, change your religion. If you want independence, change your religion. If you want to make the world in which you live happy, change your religion. Why should you remain in a religion that does not value your manhood?* Why should you remain in a religion that does not let you enter its temples? Why should you remain in a religion that does not give you water to drink? Why should you remain in areligion that does not let you become educated? Why should you remain in a religion that bars you from good jobs? Why should you remain in a religion that dishonors you at every step? That religion which forbids humanitarian behavior* between man and man is not religion but a reckless penalty. That religion which regards the recognition of man's self respect* as sin is not a religion but a sickness. That religion which allows one to touch a foul animal but not a man is not a religion but a madness. That religion which says that one class may not gain knowledge, may not acquire wealth, may not take up arms, is not a religion but a mocker}- of man's life. That religion which teaches that the unlearned should remain unlearned, that the poor should remain poor, is not a religion but a punishment. Do not say: men who treat animals with more respect than humans and who respect all Brahmans as gods are religious. Do not say: men who feed ants with sugar and let men go without water are religious.
A mbedkar's Conversion
13
Do not say: men who embrace another religion and push their own far from them hate society.42 *TheMarathi word manuski, a key word in theMahar movement literature, is used four timesin thissegment oftheaddress. It may bevariously translatedas humanitarian attitude, self-respect, manhood, humanity. '’'The address was printed as Mukhti Kon Pathe? (What Path Freedom?), but there is no directive in it for conversion to another specific religion. Islam, Sikhism or Christianity would have served to give the Untouchables a larger community, and in the first named religion the protection of a militant group would have been greatest, but there is no clear implication in the speech that any of the three might be preferred to the others, and a quotation fromthe Buddhawas the last word left in theminds of Ambedkar's audience: "Shine with your own light like the sun, not like the earth in borrowed light; trust your own selves; do not depend on others; adhere to truth."
Sikhism, Islam or Christianity? Ambedkar's vow to convert and the Mahar resolution had a catalytic effect on a number of educated Untouchables. In the same month as the Bombay Mahar conference, May 1936, the All Religions Conference of the All India Depressed Classes Conference was held at Lucknow. One hundred delegates from seven provinces gathered to express their confidence in Dr. Ambedkar and to support the resolution passed at the Yeola Conference "declaring in favour of a change of religion." A Christian missionary, commenting on the Conference, stated "Noteworthy also was the impression that the delegates of the Depressed Classes...were actuated by deeper motives than are often ascribed to them. There was no mistaking the depth of their resolve to leave Hinduism, which they have come to regard as the instrument of their sufferings and degradation."43 At the Lucknow Conference, the D epressed Classes delegates were outnumbered by representatives from thirteen sects and faiths, all interested in winning the Depressed Classes into their respective camps. "Yellow robed Buddhist monks, cassocked Moslem Maulvis, retired Civil Service officers in spotless European attire, a college president and awild "John the Baptist" from among the Sikhs, a fatJain merchant, two Indian Christian clergymen, an Indian Christian lady, a sleek jolly aggressive Arya Samajist abbot, and some others spoke in turn. The Hindu speaker was howled down, the Arya Samajist held his own but, at the close, powerful Chandrika Prasad, Depressed Classes champion, with sarcasm and biting irony effectively ridiculed caste Hinduism."44The delegates were not only lectured, but also
14
A mbedkar's Conversion
given tangible evidence of hospitality. "Muslims cultivated and dined them. Forty bearded turbaned, sworded Sikhs...waited courteously on these representatives of the off-scouring of the Hindus...The Christians turned over to them the Christian hostel."4:> Dr. Ambedkar was not able to attend because of illness, but his lecture prepared for the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal on the annihilation of caste46was read in part, followed by cries of "Victory to Ambedkar." He was selected in absenda as chairman of the committee, which was to continue study of the matter of conversion. In addition to resolutions supporting Ambedkar and the conversion idea, the Conference also expressed its sorrow on the death of King George V, prayed for the long life of Edward VIII, sent condolences to the family of Sri 108, Swami Achutanand (the number is mystical; the name means "joy in Untouchables") of Cawnpore, declared its abhorrence of the term "Harijan" and its dissatisfaction with the Harijan Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi, and requested the appointment of a Government commission of five persons, including two Depressed Class members to investigate begar and other forced labor. Ambedkar seems not to have been in close communication with the planners of this conference, and did not attend its subsequent meeting in. 1937. According to Jagjivan Ram's biography, the 1937 conference held at Patna was rendered useless by Ram himself. Shortly before the conference, on March 27, 1937, Ram issued a statement that the conference was a sham planned by the "Baldeo Prasad Jaiswar-Christian Missionary axis" and that Jaiswar had entered a pact with the Catholic Church. A man supported by Ram, Mahabir Das, posed as a pro-conversionist and was named chairman of the Reception Committee. The first session met on April 10, 1937, at the Anjuman Islamic Hall in Patna, and in the second session, Ram's men publicly opposed conversion. They were "now masters of the situation. They had been smuggled into the conference very cleverly and till the last moment Jaiswar did not know that the ground had slipped away from under his feet."47Jaiswar had to flee the chaos; Ram celebrated his victory over the absent Ambedkar and the missionaries; and an All Religions Conference for the Depressed Classes was not held again. The descriptions of these two conferences illustrate the willingness of other religions to accept the Untouchables, the fact that therewas both considerable support for as well as disapproval of the conversion idea among Untouchables, and the unwillingness or inability of Ambedkar to organize a movement involving all the disaffected.
A mbedkar'sConversion
15
Various religious paths were considered by Ambedkar, and various religious groups approached him to present the benefits of their particular faith. He had a wide range of choice. Only one public announcement was made cutting off the possibility of entering any specific religion, but the others seem to have been gradually ticked off, one by one. The Arya Samaj, which had never penetrated effectively into Maharashtra, was dismissed in 1935: "I sh&ll not take the responsibility of starting a new sect," Ambedkar told newsmen. "There are some difficulties in the way of our accepting Buddhism. We have decided not to join the Arya Samaj. We shall consider the question of joining the Sikh religion."48 Christian publications gave much publicity to the conversion idea, but few Christian approaches direcdy to Ambedkar have come to light. A missionary in Bombay at the time reports that John R. Mott wanted to see Ambedkar, but made a point of visiting Gandhi first, a gesture Ambedkar did not appreciate.4< JMissionaries attended the various meetings of Depressed Class groups considering conversion, and diere seems to have been a feelingamong themthat die Depressed Classes would followtheir brothers into Chrisdanity. The idea of a mass conversion was not acceptable to all Indian Chrisdans, however, and fourteen educated Indian Chrisdans in Madras issued a manifesto in March, 1937, that in caudous terms warned of "danger in this situation." The enthusiasm of Muslims and Christian leaders to commend their religions to the Depressed Classes had "naturally aroused the suspicion and resentment of the Hindus." The statement also noted that "mass conversions have generally lowered Chrisdan standards so badly as to have left for the Indian Church a legacy of deplorable caste prejudices and jealousies."10Ambedkar was aware of the continuation of caste loyalties within Chrisdanity. Since he also considered Chnsdanity a foreign religion, it seems improbable that he seriously considered Chrisdan conversion. Buddhist organizations and individuals joined in the response, and at least one group had urged conversion even before the 1935 Yeola statement. At the Depressed Classes Congress held in Kamti, near Nagpur, in May, 1932, to give support to Ambedkar's position of separate electorates, the meeting openedwith greetings from the General Secretary of die Buddha Mahasabha, who asked the Depressed Classes to embrace Buddhism.51The Maha Bodlii Society at Benares telegraphed Ambedkar shortly after the Yeola statement, guaranteeing equal status to converts and offering to send workers.32The Maha Bodhi Society in Calcutta was a little less enthusiastic, informing Ambedkar that they deprecated "his intended apostasy, but if, however, he is determined to leave Hinduism, Buddhism has all the requisites which he looks for in his religion."53
16
A mbedkars Conversion
The most curious Buddhist document of all is abooklet byan Italian Buddhist monk, Lokanatha, published in Ceylon, dedicated to the Depressed Classes of India, and entitled buddhism Will Make You Freed4Lokanatha addressed the "Harijans" as brothers and sisters, evidently not aware that Gandhi's term for the Untouchables was unacceptable to the Mahars, and reminded them that "you were once Buddhists and.. .were depressed by the Hindus for refusing to come under the Hindu fold." The author claimed, "There is no caste in Buddhism! Therefore become Buddhists and thereby raise your status." The pamphlet contained reprints of two letters sent to Dr. Ambedkar, oneJuly 4, the other on August 21,1936, to which there evidently had been no answer. In these letters, Ambedkar was reminded of "that excellent conversation we had together in your library at Dadar," where a "most beautiful solitary picture of Lord Buddha" hung on the wall. Lokanatha seemed to feel the chief competition for Buddhism in the mind of Dr. Ambedkar was Sikhism, and warned him that if he embrace Sikhism he would lose his leadership and would become part of a people who knew not "even the first thing about morality and self-control." Ambedkar's failure to answer Lokanatha's letters leads to the suspicion that he did not take the Italian Buddhist seriously. However, Lokanatha's statement that the Untouchables had been Buddhists may have added weight to that theory in Ambedkar's mind. The idea that Untouchables were former Buddhists is the basis of Ambedkar's book, TheUntouchables, published twelveyears later. Buddhism in India in 1936 had neither the intellectual respectability1nor the universal appeal, which it gained in the succeeding years. Conversion to Islam was the greatest threat Ambedkar could hold over the heads of the Hindus. Although he had earlier privately stated that he would not become a Muslim, his public remarks contain hints that this might be the path for his people. An international Muslim response greeted Ambedkar's Yeola statement. In October, 1935, Maulana Mohammed Irfan, representative of the Caliphate Central Committee, called on Ambedkar, assuring him that in Islam was perfect equality7and that conversion would offer him the possibility of being one of the leaders of the eighty millions of Moslems in India.33The same month, Maulana Ahmed Said, organizer of the Indian Association of the Ulama, wired to Ambedkar "I invite you from the bottom of my heart to this natural religion; only in it you will realize your hopes."36The Liberals Islamic Council founded a special section for propaganda.37The Arabic press followed "with special interest and keen expectation the movement of Harijans."38Cairo Muslims collected propaganda funds, and the Rector of A1 Azhar in Cairo explained that the
A mbedkar's Conversion
17
veil and circumcision were not obligatory for Untouchables converting to Islam."9On December 1, 1936, five Muslims left Cairo for India on an A1 Azhar Mission to study the Depressed Classes, but there is no information on whether they interviewed Ambedkar or not. Their report on June 1, 1937, recommended that "if the Al-Azhar should see fit to undertake any direct work, it would be the founding of centres for the spread of Islamic cylture and of the message of Islam in the following places:' Keral (SW Deccan), Surat, Dekka in Little Bengal, Rangoon, Nagpur,"60(Of these five places, only Nagpur is in the Mahar area.) The group also recommended that Al Azhar should accept as students five "outcaste matriculates," should give financial assistance to the association of Ulama at Lucknow in return for their receiving twenty Untouchable boys, should give assistance to the Islamic Society at Nagpur in return for the Society's opening new classes to Untouchable boys, and should aid in the preaching of Islam among Depressed Classes in Kerala. aslim help was offered more directly to Ambedkar, it was rumored during these days of conversion fever, in the formof acontribudon from theNizam of Hyderabad, although thisdonation is not documented.61 Although it is probable that Ambedkar did not ever seriously contemplate joining the Muslim community, he found it convenient to reiterate the possibility of the Untouchables' becoming Muslim. On October 11,1939, in the context of a comment on the demand that "had been raised to divide India into Hindu and Muslim India," he said that "he found it very difficult to dissuade Iniscommunity from merging itself in some other larger community. I hope that wisdom and statesmanship will dawn on the Congress in time to prevent India from beingdivided into two parts, and scheduled classes merging themselves with a powerful and influential minority."62 It was widi the Sikh community that Ambedkar most seriously considered merging. Sikhism had the advantage of being an Indian founded religion so that becoming a Sikh involved no loss of patriotism. The militant image of the Sikh was as great as that of the Muslim, an important factor in Ambedkar's campaign to free the Untouchable from servility.63The Sikhs had already absorbed many I Jntouchables in the Panjab into Sikhism and for years had carried on a campaign of conversion. The fact that Untouchables in Sikhism remainedasomewhatseparatecommunity militatedagainst theideaof equality, but also provided a channel through which special benefits in educational policies and government services as well as in reserved seats in legislatures might continue. The Sikhs had been acknowledged as a group deserving of separate electorates, and although that right obtained only in the Panjab, it offered a precedent, which might be applied to other parts of India.
18
A mbedkar's Conversion
Ambedkar attended the Sikh Mission Conference in Amritsar on April 13-14,1936, along with Depressed Class members from the Panjab, Kerala, United Provinces and Central Provinces. Over fifty people converted to Sikhism at this conference, including five Tiyas from Kerala, but none of them were from Bombay.6'1There is an unverified story that Ambedkar spoke to a Sikh group at this time, asking them if they were willing to allow inter marriage between Sikhs and new converts, and the Sikhs responded affirmatively.63In September of the same year, a group of Ambedkar's followers, "none of whom was a scholar or a first-rate Ambedkarite,"66were sent to Amritsar to study Sikhism. They exceeded their instructions to study and converted to the Sikh religion, but disappeared into obscurity when they returned to Bombay. The eagerness of the Sikhs to include Ambedkar and his followers in their fold may best be seen by the creation of Klialsa College in Bombay as an earnest of their desire and ability to aid the Depressed Classes. Thereis no documentation that Klialsa Collegewas planned, designed and staffed by Ambedkar and financed by the Sikhs, but that story is accepted as true by men close to Ambedkar and is given some verification by the fact that many of the Klialsa faculty were associates of Ambedkar who joined Siddharth College when he est
A mbedkar's Conversion
19
gone to the length of considering it an alternative, it is because I felt a certain amount of responsibility for the fate of the Hindus."69 Ambedkar left for England on November 11,1936, probably with thepurpose of sounding out British statesmen on safeguards in the new constitudon for Depressed Class converts to Sikhism. The result of his conversation cvidendy was that reserved seats for Sikhs would be granted only in the Panjab, but after Ambedkar's return in mid-January, 1937, there was no announcement of any decision, and contact with the Sikhs continued. Ambedkar spoke to a Sikh group shortly after his return on the occasion of Guru Govind Singh's birthday, praising Sikhism, but making no promises.70In April, R. R. Bhole, a Mahar closely identified with Ambedkar, appeared at a party honoring six Sikh converts, among diem three converted Mahars from Satara.71After this, publicity about the possibility of conversion to Sikhism died away, and the only clue to Ambedkar's rejection of this conversion plan is the trip to England and a note found in the biography of Ambedkar by Dhananjay Keer that Ambedkarand theSikh Mission authorities later "could not hit it off together."72 'The total result of all the interchange was some dozen Mahar Sikh converts and the realization that Ambedkar, for all his threats, was concerned not to injure Hinduism irreparably.
The Delay in Conversion Proof that the Mahars actually discontinued Hindu practices as a result of the various conversion resolutions is difficult to obtain. N. V. Gadgil, a sympathetic Brahman observer, wrote that after the conversion announcement of 1935 "the temples of the Gods were not seen in the Mahar quarters."73Another caste Hindu writer noted in 1941 that the new generation of Mahars "do not care for Avalbai (Ambabai)1,74the cholera goddess also called Mariai or Lakshmi whose small temple was usually found in the Maharwada. This reaction could be the mark of a more highly educated generation who identified the goddess with the village and with ignorance, however, as well as a response to the conversion idea. Ambedkar himself, at thecelebration of his 50th birthday in 1942, noted among the improvements in the life of the Scheduled Castes that theyhad stopped eating dead animals, observing meaningless Hindu customs, and now had theprivilege of sending representatives to legislature.h It is safe to assume, however, that not all Hindu practices stopped. There were still gods in Mahar quarters to be thrown out when the conversion finally came in 1956. But it is true that no Mahar group attempted temple entry or introduced high caste religious practice into their customs after 1935, and the very rapidity of response to the actual conversion
20
A mbedkar's Conversion
twenty years after the first announcement meant that a thorough acceptance of the idea had been secured in the minds of the Mahars. It is possible to read the conversion activity simply as a threat to Hindus which might hopefully frighten them into some sort of meaningful action, for an actual conversion would have not only served as propaganda against both Hinduism and the world-image of Indian unity, but also would have cut down on the proportion of Hindu seats, vis-a-vis Muslim, Sikh and Christian, in any representative legislative body. Ambedkar, however, gave no list of specific steps for Hindus to take to meet the demands of the Scheduled Castes. In an address which was to have been given to the JatPat-Todak Mandal (Destruction of Caste Group) in Lahore in 1936 but was cancelled, probably because of Ambedkar's conversion emphasis, he listed the cardinal items in the reform of Hinduism that would change it from a "religion of rules" to a "religion of principles," a change required before it could be a "true religion." His list of necessary changes, however, betrays a lawyer's mind at work with an abstract problem that bears little relationship to actual Hinduism. Among his requirements were (1) one standard book of Hindu religion, (2) no hereditary priesthood, but an examination system open to all, (3) state sanads (permits) required for priests, (4) a limit by law on the numbers of priests, (5) state supervision of the priest's morals, beliefs and worship.76Ten years later, Ambedkar called for much more practical tests for a reformed Hinduism - intermarriage and inter-dining- but reiterated in amore-in-sorrow-than-anger-tone the impossibility of Hinduism's genuine acceptance of the Untouchable: "It is not possible for the Scheduled Castes to merge themselves into die Hindu community on die basis of a charter of common rights, privileges and removal of all social disabilities... die quesdon of amerger of the Scheduled Castes into the Hindu community is really dependent upon the wishes of die Hindu community. The Untouchables have always wished for it and have tried for it, but theyhave never succeeded in changing theattitudeof theHindus who have always regarded them as outside the pale of Hindu Society... "77 In the same interview, commenting on a statement by a missionary that Untouchables should accept Christianity rather than Islam, Ambedkar said that Hinduism did not furnish the sort of spiritual home and social communion religion was intended to furnish; that it was not easy to uproot humanity; that the Untouchables were willing to stay where they were if given political safeguards; and that there was no agreement on where to go.
A mbedkars Conversion
21
The chief reasons for the long delay between the conversion announcement in 1935 and Ambedkar's actual conversion twenty years later were that none of the available choices were suitable both intellectually and politically to him, and, more important, that he had opportunities to work for constitutional change, a method more suited to his abilities than working for a change of heart among caste Hindus or building a religious movement among Untouchables. It must be noted that he did little organizational work among the Mahars, and none among other castes, to prepare for a conversion.78The invitation to meet with the Iravas was not taken up; the conference in the North held in his name proceeded without his presence. 1’he same disinterest in building an organization will be noted in political affairs. Ambedkar's interest lay in defining issues, awakening the masses by example and oratory, and working on the highest level of politics. His opportunities of functioning in government from 1937 to 1951 pushed the issue of conversion to the rear, never out of sight but not among his major preoccupations. From 1937 to 1939, he was an elected member of the Bombay Legislative Assembly; from 1942 to 1946 he served as labor member in the Viceroy's Executive council; from 1946 to 1951 his field of endeavor was the Constituent Assembly and Nehru's first cabinet. There are signs during these years that his mind still turned on the possibility of conversion, and they point to an interest in the religion he seems all along to have felt was his personal choice—Buddhism. In an unpublished foreword to The Buddha andHisDbamrna, he told the story of being given a life of Buddha by Dada (K. A.) Keluskar at a celebration for his 4th standard English examination success and being "greatly impressed and moved byit.""J Through the years he was in touch with the reformers and scholars who were sympathetic toward Buddhism such as V.R. Shinde80and A.R. Kulkarni,81 and with the work of Dharmanand Kosambi.82In 1934 he named his newly built home in the Brahman area of Dadar in Bombay Rajgriha after the city of Magadha kings in the Buddhist era. His first college, founded in 1946 in Bombay, was named Siddharth, one of the personal names of the Buddha, and his'second, established in Aurangabad in 1951, Milind, a Greek king whose questions to the Buddhist monk Nagasena are recorded in Milinda Punha; Ambedkar also, long before the Buddhist conversion, began to refer to his "three Gurus:" The Buddha; Mahatma Phule, the Non-Brahman reformer and educator of tire 19th century; and Kabir, the medieval northern Indian bhakti poet to whose sect Ambedkar's father belonged. The period of Ambedkar's work as Chairman of the Drafting Committee for the Constitution and as Law Minister in Nehru's first cabinet, 1947-
22
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1951, when he was most taken up with the affairs of newly independent India, saw several publications and journeys that reflected his interest in Buddhism. The Untouchables published in 1948, suggested a theory of the origin of untouchability in the facts that Untouchables may have been "Broken Men," fragments of tribes differing from the tribes settling into villages, and also Buddhists, retaining their faith (and eating beef) in the midst of a rejuvenated Hinduism.83In the same year, Ambedkar wrote a preface for and republished an early 20th century study of Buddhism, Lakshmi Narasu's TheEssenceof Buddhism A In theVaisakha (Spring) issue of the Maha Bodhi journal for 1950, Ambedkar wrote on the Buddha and the I‘utureofHisReligion. After acondemnation of Hinduism as areligion founded neither on morality nor equality, he expressed an optimistic view of Buddhism's future in India. "The Hindu masses when they are enlightened are sure to turn to Buddhism," he wrote, adding that the attitude of Hindus who felt there was something wrong with their religion and yet did not denounce it openly would cause Hinduism to lapse, and the void would be filled with Buddhism. He ended by listing three needs: the production of a Buddhist Bible; the change of the degenerate present-day Sangha to a dedicated body of men, concerned with service and education; and the propagation of Buddhism by the Buddhist countries.85There is evidence that he was at work on the first need, the "Buddhist Bible," in the same year that he wrote the article.86 The year 1950 also saw the first Buddha Jayanti celebration, organized by members of the "Ambedkar School of Thought" in the grounds of the Scheduled Castes Welfare Association in Delhi. The. Burmese ambassador to India, H. E. Maung Guy, presided, and Ambedkar spoke, noting that the Indian state flag and seal had found their symbolism in Buddhist culture.87 Shortly after the Jayanti, Ambedkar, his wife,88and P. N. Rajbhoj, the Chambhar who had earliercondemned theconversion, accepted an invitation from the Young Men's Buddhist Association in Ceylon. They journeyed to Colombo and Kandy to see Buddhist, ceremonies and rituals and to find out to what extent the religion of Buddhism "is preserved in its pristine purity, to what extent the religion of Buddhism is a live thing."89He addressed a group there on the rise and fall of Buddhism m India, claiming that although Buddhism in its material form had disappeared from India, it still existed as aspiritual force. At a meeting in town hall, he appealed to the Untouchables in Colombo to embrace Buddhism without having a separate organization.90 On his return from Ceylon, Ambedkar spoke at least twice on Buddhism in Bombay. At a meeting of the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in
Ambedkar's Conversion
23
July, he denied the accusation of opportunism and said that he had been interested in Buddhism since childhood.1,1In September, speaking in the Buddhist temple at Worli, he declared that he would devote the rest of his kfe to the revival and spread of Buddhism.92 Ambedkar's praises of Buddhism were often given in the context of acriticism of Hinduism, a practice which cast doubt, in die minds of many caste 1lindus, on the sincerity of his commitment to Buddhism. While he was able to give a talk on parliamentary democracywith httie reference to the caste system or die disabilities of the Untouchable, he seemed incapable of speaking of rehgion without criticizing the Hinduism into which he had been born, exhibiting a degree of bitterness that might be termed not insincerity' but a profound disappointment in something diat touched his emodons. There is a personal quakty about his writing, liis trips to Buddhist countries, Ceylon in 1950, Burma in 1954, lus study of Pali,95his visits to the Buddhist caves of Maharashtra, not found in his earlier contacts with Christianity, Sikhism or Islam.
Conversion to Buddhism Although Ambedkar spoke much on Buddhism after 1950, he did not attempt to place Buddhism before the village Mahars until. 1954. Mahars in die small town of Dehu Road, most of them workers at the nearby ammunition depot, invited Ambedkar >dedicate a temple to Cokhamela in their community that year. I he , ruled by saying he would come only if they would build a Buddhist Vihar. They agreed, and Ambedkar brought with him on the inauguration day a bhikkhu to install a Buddha image before a crowd of some 20,000 people. In his speech, he tied together the traditions of Buddhism and of the 14th century Mahar poet-saint Cokhamela by saying that the image of god Vithoba of the Pandharpur sect, to which Cokhamela belonged, had derived from a Buddhist image. No attempt at conversion was made, but the Vihar stands, much in the shape of a Hindu temple because the Dehu Road Mahars did not: knowwhat a Buddhist Vihar should look kkc, as the first Buddhist structure in modern Maharashra.94 The actual conversion did not take place until October, 1956. After considering holding the ceremony at Sarnath, and then at Bombay, Ambedkar decided on Nagpur, informing the leaders there of his decision only five weeks before the actual ceremony. Waman Godbole, a railroad employee and head of the Bharatiya Bouddha Jana Samiti (Indian Buddhist People's Committee) which Ambedkar had founded a year before, sent out a call for would-be converts to come to Nagpur on Dassara Day, dressed in clean, whitegarments. Ambedkarmade careful arrangements for the oldest bhikkhu
24
A mbedkar'sConversion
in India, Mahasthavcer Chandramani, to come to Nagpur to give himdiksha and corresponded with D. Valasinha of the Maha Bodhi Society on the proper steps in a conversion ceremony, but he seems not to have invited the two Buddhist groups in India most closely tied in with the lower classes, the South Indian Buddhist Association of Madras'^and theKoliya Buddhist Association of Ajmer in Rajasthan.% The conversion days of October 14and 15 sawNagpur crowded with whiteclad diksharthis, the majority of them Mahars, but with a handful of others, coming for conversion. A large field near the Vaccine Institute on the outskirts of Nagpur was the scene of conversion, and the crowd there on diksha day approached half a million people. Forty-five offices had been set up in the city to register those converting, and 60,000 names were recorded in these, but all available figures give the actual number at the ceremonies at three to five lakhs. An observer wrote, "It seems Ambedkar has turned Nagpur into another Pandharpur. Such crowds I have never seen."tJ7 Ambedkar received conversion at the hands of the eighty-three year old bhikkhu from Burma, and then administered the three refuges (tisarana,) the five vows [panca sild) and twenty-two oaths of his own devising to the assembled multitudes. Thetisarana is a Pali chant known throughout the Theravada Buddhist countries: I take refuge in the Buddha; I take refuge in the Dhamma (law, faith, right morality,); I take refuge in the Sangha (the body of monks). The panca sila is also part of classical Buddhism: I will attempt not to take life, not to steal, not to lie, not to drink, to avoid wrongful sex. The twenty-four oaths combine an affirmation of Buddhism and negation of Hinduism, and were made in Marathi, not Pali:
Buddhist’s Oaths 1. I will not regard Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as gods norwill I worship them. 2. I will not regard Rama and Krishna as gods nor will I worship them. 3. I will not accept Hindudeities likeGauri, Ganapati etc. nor will I worship them. 4. I do not believe that God has taken birth or incarnation in any form. 5.1do not believe that Lord Buddha was the incarnation of Vishnu. I believe this propaganda as mischievous and false. 6.1will never perform any Shradha nor will I offer any Pinda. 7.1will never act against the tenets of Buddhism. 8.1will never get any Samskaar performed by Brahmins. 9.1believe in the principle that all are equal. 10.1will try to establish equality. 11.1will follow the Eight Fold Path of Lord Buddha.
A mbedkars Conversion
25
12.1will follow all the ten Paramitasof the Dhamma. 13.1will have compassion on all living beings and will try to look after them. 14.1will not lie. 15. I will not commit theft. 16. I will not indulge in lust or sexual transgression. 17. I will not take any liquor or drink that causes intoxication. 18. I will try to mould my life in accordance with the Buddhist preaching, based on Enlightenment, Precept and Compassion. 19.1embrace.today the Bauddha Dhamma discarding the Hindu religion, which is detrimental to the emancipation of human beings and which believes in inequality and regards human beings other than Brahmins as low born. 20. This is my firm belief that the Bauddha Dhamma is the best religion. 21.1believe that today I am taking new-birth. 22.1solemnly take oath that from today onwards I will act according to the Bauddha Dhamma.1'8 On the day following conversion, Ambedkar spoke, in simple and colorful Marathi, to the now converted Buddhists. Nagpur was chosen for conversion, he said, because it was the home of the Nags, a brave Buddhist people. He spoke of the Mahars giving up the dragging out of dead catde and the eating of that meat in earlier days, and the criticism of caste Hindus of that improvement. He contrasted the life of a virtuous woman livingwith dignity to the easier life of the prostitute, evidently making these points to urge his audience to sacrifice for self-respect. He quoted his own words at Yeola, "I will not die in the Hindu religion," and added that today he felt as if he had left hell (and those nearest him said that he wrept as he said this.) He spoke of his own hard life and his own achievements, and then, his words punctuated by applause, alternately praised Buddhism and criticized Hinduism. The printed version of the two-hour speech, which must be greatly shortened, is rambling and personal, full of anecdotes of Mahar life, Ambedkar's past and the'BoddhaV teaching. -Nevertheless the idea that Buddhism is a moral religion, a religion of equality, a religion respected by the world, comes across. Ambedkar ended by charging the Mahars not to bring Buddhism to a low state but to act with honor and respect, to observe Buddhism in the best way, thus saving themselves and their country.1 '9 Ambedkar died on December 6, 1956, within two months of the Nagpur conversion. His cremation ceremony in Bombay was the occasion of another conversion, administered to alakh of people by bhikkhu Anand Kausalyayan after the largest funeral procession Bombay had ever seen marched through
31
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A mbedkar's Conversion
the streets chanting BuddhamSaranamGacchami (I take refuge in the Buddha.) On December 16, crowds gathered for prayer at the Diksha ground in Nagpur, and for conversion rites in Nasik and Bombay. Conversion ceremonieswere held across the faceof Maharashtra in thenext two months. The total number of declared Buddhists recorded in the 1961 census was 3,250,227 with 2,789,501 of that number in Maharashtra, encompassing some eighty percent of the Mahar caste.100 Of the three needs Ambedkar delineated as necessary for the revival of Buddhism in India—a Buddhist Bible, a dedicated body of monks, and support from Buddhist countries - Ambedkar fulfilled only one. The Buddha and His Dhamma was published posthumously in 1957 by the Peoples Education Society in Bombay. It was printed as Ambedkar wrote it, in English. A Hindi version, translated by Bhikshu Anand Kausalyayan, appeared in 1961.101A translation in Marathi has not yet been published. TheBuddhaandHisDhammais based chiefly on Pali sources, although some changes and the removal of the miraculous and the idea of reincarnation slants the material toward a definition of Buddhism solely as an ethical, rational, and humanitarian religion.11,2In addition to this guide, Ambedkar left an outline for the conversion rite and for asimple wedding ceremony. His previous celebrations of Buddha Jayanti left that tradition to be used as a substitute for Hindu holy days by the new Buddhists. He also had introduced Pali and the study of Buddhism into his colleges, and the Pali tisarana and panca sila became an established part of any new Buddhist ceremony, with the panca sila also functioning as a brief guide to Buddhist morality. Highly critical of the contemporary Buddhist sangha, Ambedkar made little effort to create a body of bhikkhus among the Mahars. The leadership of theconversion movement after his death devolved upon the political leaders, the only group with any sort of structure or public reputation. His stress on the study of Buddhism, however, has produced local leaders, many of them college students or government servants, who conduct ceremonies, interpret Buddhist beliefs, hold meetings, and occasionally conduct pilgrimages or translate Buddhist writings into Marathi. Ambedkar did secure land in Banglore with the intention of establishing aBuddhist seminary there,l03but these plans did not come to fruition. The Buddhist Society of India, now headed by Ambedkar's son, Yeshwant Ambedkar, serves as the official organization for the new Buddhists, but it is ineffective on the local level except where there is strong leadership in the area itself. Ambedkar was conscious of the need for support from the Asian Buddhist countries. After independence, India herself became much more awrare of
A mbedkar's Conversion
27
the neighboring Buddhist countries, and the all-India celebration of the 2500 anniversary of Buddhism in India in 1956, the same year as Ambedkar's conversion, was indicative of this awakened interest. Ambedkar visited Burma, Ceylon and Nepal, although at Katmandu he was too ill to inspect Buddhism in Nepal or to participate fully in the fourth Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. He did give alecture, however, three weeks before his death, on "Buddhism and Communism," stressing Buddhism as a better way to peace and justice than Communism for all of Asia."M Ambedkar made no firmarrangements for continuing help from the Buddhist countries, however. Bhikkhus from Thailand, Burma, Ceylon, Tibet and Japan do travel among new Buddhist groups in Maharashtra and elsewhere, supplying at least an image of Indian Buddhist connection with a world religion. Their effectiveness, however, is generally limited by language. A consciousness, among Maharashtrian Buddhists of identification with world wide Buddhism remains, but no institutionalized channel of support from other Buddhist countries has been created.
End Notes: 1. Quoted in Khairmode, Da. Bbimrao Kamji Ambedkar, Vol. I. p. 266. 2. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 126. 3. Indian Statutory Commission, Vol. XVI, p. 59. 4. Indian Round Table Conference, 2nd. Session, Proceedings ofFederal Structure CommitteeandMinorities Committee, pp. 563-564. 5. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 227. 6. B. G. Tilak, "TheEmancipation of theUntouchable," inThe HinduMissionary (Bombay), #42, April 15,1918. 7. Ambedkar, What CongressandGandhi HaveDoneTo TheUntouchables, p. 305. A similar fear is found in the writings of Rao Bahadur Srinivasan, quoted by Ambedkar on page 113 of the same volume. 8. Indian Franchise Committee, 1932. Report. Vol. I (London: H.M.S.O., 1932) (Cmd. 4086. Pari. Pap. 1931-32:VIII), p. 211-212. 9. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 251. Keer adds that Ambedkar later discouraged other Untouchables in the area from conversion to Islam. The implication is that this Jalgaon conversion was made without Ambedkar's approval. 10. TimesofIndia,January 4, 1930. 11. Keer, Dr. Atnbedkar, p. 239. 12. Navalkar, LifeofShivramJanba Kamble, p. 151. 13. In spite of lists of opened temples in Gandhi's newspaper, TheHarijan, it is generally conceded that the great majority of actively used temples remained closed to Untouchables. 14. SeeTheDepressedClasses:A Chronological Documentation (Part I: Ranchi: Rev. Fr. J. Jans, Catholic Press; Parts II-VII: Kurseong: St. Mary's College, 1935-1937),
'a 28
A mbedkar's Conversion
pp.31-32. This volume not only expresses Catholic interest in theconversion movement but also contains an invaluable collection of documents for the period just before and after the conversion announcement of Ambedkar. 15. For example, see Charles .H. Heimsath, Indian Nationalismand Hindu Social Reform(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964), p. 344: "Finally he (Gandhi) broke completely with the earlier movements for both social and political reform by undertaking the satyagraha campaigns, notably on behalf of untouchables." 16. Ambedkar, What Congressand Gandhi HaveDonenr‘ heUntouchables, pp.115117. The temple was later opened to all castes t the trustees. 17. Ambedkar reproduced his February 14,1933, "Statement on Temple Entry Bill" in What CongressandGandhi HaveDoneTo TheUntouchables, pp. 108-113. 18. TheDepressedClasses, p. 41. 19. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar ; p. 252. 20. TheDepressedClasses, pp. 42-43. Kowitha (or Kavitha) was avillage in Gujarat where reprisals had been taken against Untouchables who attempted to send their children to school. 21. TheDepressedClasses, pp. 43-44 22. Harijan, December 19, 1936. 23. F. G. Bailey, CasteandtheEconomicFrontier (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1957), p. 226. 24. Janata (Bombay) (Marathi), February, March andjuly, 1936, issues. The "New Manu" is a reference to the long-felt need of replacing the laws of Manu (the Manusmriti) with more egalitarian ideas. 25. TheDepressedClasses, p. 49. 26. TheDepressedClasses, p. 49. 27. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, pp. 260-261. After the Conference, a group of Mahar youth journeyed nearby villages, spreading the word of conversion. 28. TheDepressedClasses, p 74. 29. TheDepressedClasses, p. 58. 30. TheDepressedClasses, p. 59. 31. N. V. Sharma, "A Biography," in TheWorkingMan, Yishwanath Verma and GyaneshwarPrasad (eds.) (Patna:JagjivanRamAbinandan Granth Committee, ca. 1957), pp.90-91. 32. FortheSriNarayanaGummovement,seeJ. N.Farquhar, ModemReligiousMovements inIndia (London, N. Y .: Macmillan, 1917; reprintedby Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1967), pp. 311-313; Stephen Fuchs, Rebellious Prophets (Bombay: Asia PublishingHouse, 1965), pp. 268-275; andA. Aiyappan, IravasandCultureChange (Madras MuseumBulletin, NS. Gen. Sec. Vol. V. No. 1,1944). 33. TheDepressed Classes, pp. 54-55. T. K. Madhavan an Irava, had begun the twenty' month satyagrahawith the blessing of Gandhi and A. Aiyappan states: "The road in question was closed and a new one was constructed a little further up, which could beused by Iravas. But themoral effect of thecampaign on the public of Malabar was very' great."
A mbedkar's Conversion
29
34. TheDepressedClasses, p. 54. 35. TheDepressedClasses, pp. 60-61. The Irava legends refer to their coming to the Malabar Coast from Ceylon. In the twenties and thirties, some Iravas also claimed that they had at one time been Buddhists. 36. TheDepressedClasses, p. 72. 37. TheDepressedClasses, pp. 187-188. 38. The Depressed Classes, p. 193. 39. Sharma, TheWorkingAlan, p. 89. 40. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 257. 41. TheDepressedClasses, pp. 102-103. 42. Bh. Ra. Ambedkar, MukhtiKonPathe?(What Path Freedom?) (Bombay: Bharat Bhushan Printing Press, 1936.) 43. Depressed ClassesAwakenings - Newsand dews of theAll-India Depressed Classes Conference,June24, 1936 (Lucknow: C.O. Forsgren.) Article byDr. F. M. Perrill reprinted from"TheIndian Witness." The entire issueof the newspaper is given over to a description of the Lucknow Conference. 44. DepressedClassesAwakenings. Article signed by Mr. Mohini Dass, G. S. Ingram, G. M. Massey, D. A. McGavran, Samuel Datt, andJ. Holmes Smith. 45. Depressed Classes Awakenings. 46. Ambedkarwas invitedto speak to thereformingorganizationsJat-Pat-Todak Mandal (Caste-Destruction Group), an Arya Samaj offshoot, at Lahore in the spring of 1936. Upon reading Ambedkar's prepared speech, the Mandal cancelled theinvitation. The speech and the correspondencewith theMandal were published as TheAnnihilation ofCaste. 47. Sharma, TheWorkingMan, p. 100-101. 48. TheDepressed Classes, pp. 55-56. 49. Information from Mildred Drescher, October, 1966. Miss Drescher was a Methodist missionary in Bombay at this timeandaclosefriendof Dr. Ambedkar. 50. Quoted from "The Guardian" for March 11, 1937, in TheDepressed Classes, pp. 354-359. 51. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 200. I have been unable to find any other clear references to an organization called the "Buddha Mahasabha." 52. Timesof India, October 18,1935, quoted in Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, pp. 253-254. 53. TheDepressedClasses, p. 60. 54. Lokanatha (Salvatore, Italian Buddhist monk), BuddhismWillMakeYouFreeUl (Panadura, Ceylon: The Harijan PublishingSociety, 1936). 55. TheDepressed Classes, pp.46-47. 56. TheDepressed Classes, p. 47. 57. TheDepressedClasses, pp. 47-48. 58. Quoted from Oriente Moderno, July, 1936, in TheDepressedClasses, pp. 232. 59. Quoted from Oriente Moderno, September, 1936, in TheDepressed Classes, pp. 238-240. 60. Quoted from Al-Ahram, June 1, 1937, inTheDepressedClasses, p. 455-456. 61. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 262. I have also heard this rumor directly from Buddhists in Maharashtra, although a later date was indicated.
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A mbedkar'sConversion
62. Unidentified (probably Timesoflndia) news clipping for October 11,1939, in the Khairmoday Collection at Bombay University Library. 63. A Nagpur Sikh (formerly Mahar) informed me that Ambedkar was very sympathetic with his conversion and had referred more than once to the strength and militancy of the Sikhs. 64. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 266. Some converts from the Central Provinces were reported, and may have been Mahars. In the decade from 1921-1931 in the Punjab, thenumberof Sikhs increased aboveexpectation by 542, 576 persons. A large numberwere no doubt fromtheDepressed Classes, (Census oflndia, 1931, Vol. XVII, Punjab, Part 1, Report, (Lahore, 1933), p. 306. Untouchables, however, generally entered the Mazbi Sikh sect, which worshipped in Sikh gurdwaras but was considered somewhat socially inferior. 65. Conversation with C. B. Khairmoday, January, 1965. 66. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 282. 67. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar , p. 276. The Moonje-Ambedkar correspondence is reproduced in the IndianAnnual Register , 1936, Vol. II, pp. 276-279. 68. The DepressedClasses, p. 153. 69. Timesoflndia, August 8,1936, quoted in Keer, p. 279-280. 70. TimesofIndia, January 31,1957, quoted in DepressedClasses, pp. 312-314. 71. The Depressed Classes, p. 419. 72. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, p. 288. 73. N. Vi. Gadgil, KahiMod, KabiMohra, p. 221 74. V. N. Barve, "A Note ContainingSomeObservations on theHarijan Problem in Maharashtra," in Vamanrai A. Bhatt, TheHarijansof Maharashtra (Delhi: All India Harijan Sevak Sangh, 1941), p. 42. 75. TimesofIndia, April 27, 1942. (italics mine) 76. B. R. Ambedkar, Annihilation ofCaste, pp. 74-75. 77. ]ai Bbeem(Madras,) December 25, 1944. 78. The Bharatiya Bauddh Maha Sabha (Buddhist Society of India) was founded by Ambedkar in 1953, but there is little record of its work before the 1956 conversion. 79. Unpublished foreword to TheBuddha andHis Dhamma. 80. Vithal Ramji Shinde founded theDepressed Classes Mission for educational work among the Untouchables in 1906. He at one time called himself a Buddhist. Principal M. P. Mangudkar of Shri Shahu Mandir Mahavidyalaya, Poona, reports seeingletters fromAmbedkar questioningShinde on Buddhism in the Shinde papers, dating from some time in the 1920s. 81. A. R. Kulkarni, aBrahman from Nagpur, left his lawpracdce in the 1930s to devote his time to a revival of Buddhism. Although he saw Buddhism as a part of Hinduism, he stressed its reform aspects. He had a number of talks with Dr. Ambedkar and wrote an article in the MahaBodhi, Vol. 58, No. 10 (Oct. 1950), pp. 338-346, encouraging the conversion of Untouchables to Buddhism. Conversation with A. R. Kulkarni, October, 1964. 82. Dharmanand Kosambi was one of the early Buddhist scholars in modern
A mbedkars Conversion
31
India. BhagwanBuddha, his Marathi book on Buddhism, was evidently known to Ambedkar, who took from it the de-mythicized version of the Buddha’s home-leaving used in TheBuddha and His Dhamma. 83. Ambedkar, TheUntouchables (New Delhi: Amrit Book Company, 1948). The idea that Untouchables or low castes were former Buddhists was earlier accepted by some members of other castes, chiefly die Koliyas of Rajasthan, the Ilavas of Travancore, the Namashudras and Dorns of Bengal. 84. P. Lakshmi Narasu, TheEssenceof Buddhism(1st published 1907, 2nd edition 1912, republished with a preface by B. R. Ambedkar by Thakker, Bombay, 1948). Narasu was an associate of Pandit C. Iyothidoss who began the South India Sakya Association around 1900 in Madras. (Manuscript on "Fifty Years of Buddhist Activity in South India" in Ambedkar's files, Office of the Administrator General, Bombay.) 85. B. R. Ambedkar, "The Buddhaand the Future of His Religion," inTheMaha Bodhi, Vaishaka Number (April-May), 1950, Vol. 58. 86. Letter from B. R. Ambedkar to bhikshu Sangarakshita, 1950. Bhikshu Sangarakshita, aBuddhist of English birth, consultedwith Ambedkar several timesbetween 1950and 1956, and has continued to makeyearly tours among the Buddhists of Maharashtra and Gujarat. 87. TimesofIndia, May 3, 1950. In atalk to the third World Buddhist Conference in 1954 in Burma, Ambedkar claimed that he had achieved several things in India for the propagation of Buddhism: provision for the study of Pali in the constitution, theinscription of a Buddhist aphorismon the faceof Rashtrapati Bhavan (the President's House) in Delhi, ihe acceptance of the Ashokan wheel as the symbol of Independent India, and the public celebration of BuddhaJayanti as aholiday. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar ; pp. 478-479. 88. Ambedkar's first wife, Ramabai, an uneducated Ratnagiri Mahargirl who had been married to himin 1903, died in 1935. In 1948, Ambedkarill with diabetes and in need of someone to look after his health and household, married a Saraswat Brahman doctor, Sharda (Savita) Kabir. I ler role as Ambedkar's companion and protectorhas been much criticized by Ambedkar's followers, but it is clear that she aided him in his study of Buddhism. She converted to Buddhism with him in 1956. Since his death, she has been active in work perpetuating his memory and in care for Tibetan refugees. 89. TheTimes (Kandy), May 26,1950. 90. Keer, Dr. Ambedkar, pp. 419-420. 91. TimesofIndia,July 26, 1950. 92. TimesofIndia, October 1, 1950. I have been told by Buddhist converts that G. D. Birla built the Worli Buddhist temple in consultation with Ambedkar. It is much used by present-day Buddhists in Bombay. A Japanese Buddhist monk is in attendance there. 93. Ambedkar, prevented from takingSanskrit because of his caste in his school days, studied occasionally with a pandit in Bombay and in Delhi. In his later years, hebegan astudy of Pali. Preliminarywork for aPali dictionary, evidently
32
Ambedkar'sConversion
begun by Ambedkar and his wife, is filed with Ambedkar's papers in the offices of the Administrator General in Bombay. Pali is offered at Siddharth College of Arts and Sciences, and at other institutions in Maharashtra, and several Maharashtrian Buddhists have taken M.A. in Pali studies. 94. TimesofIndia, December 25, 1954, and conversation on December 25, 1965, with Dehu Road Buddhists. The technical meaning of the word vihar is a residence for bhikkhus, but in Maharashtra it is theword used for aBuddhist place of worship. 95. The South India Buddhist Association, an organization of some fifty years standing, presentedAmbedkarwith awelcomeaddress and apicture of Buddha during his Madras tour in 1944. TheHindu (Madras), September 26, 1944. N. Shivraj, President of theRepublican Party'1at the time of his death in 1966, told me that his father was a Buddhist in Madras, evidently along with a number of other Scheduled Castes. 96. TheKoliyaBuddhist Association of Ajmer, Rajasthan, was officially founded in 1952, according to its publication, Right View. The Koliyas claim to be "theLord Buddha's own Blood-Related Republican Dynasty of Ancient India." Ambedkar was invited to preside at their Buddha Purnima functions in 1951 and 1955 but seems not to have been able to participate. 97. "Nagpur Day by Day" in Nagpur Times, October 5, 1957. 98. DbammaDeeksha (NewDelhi: 1‘he Buddhist Society'of India, n. d.) The oaths are reproduced here as they appear in this pamphlet in English. 99. Prabuddha Bharat (Marathi) October 27, 1956. Translated with the aid < > l Rekha Damle. 100. Census of India, Paper No. 1of 1963, 1961 Census - Religion (New Delhi, 1963.) (see maps II and III) 101. Anand Kausalyayan, Bhagwan Buddha Aur Unka Dharm (Bombay: Siddluwih Prakashan, 1961) 102. Ambedkar made extensive but selective use of the Buddhist Pali scriptme-. and the Buddhacarita of Ashvaghosa. A study of Ambedkar's sources and interpretation is found in The Use of Buddhist Scriptures in D i B U Ambedkar's TheBuddha andHis Dhamma, by Adele M. Fiske (M.A. ther i .. Columbia University, 1966). 103.TimesofIndia,January' 12,1955. Id 104. The speech, given November20,1956,at the fourth conferenceof theWin Fellowship of Buddhists at Katmandu, has been published in a pamphlet, Buddha andKarlMarx (Nagpur: M. I VPanchbhai, 1965).
