Navayana
Navayana is a school of Buddhism that took shape in India when 380,000 members of oppressed communities converted from Hinduism on the 14th and the 15th of October 1956. Today it goes by several names, and people disagree about what it is. Some call it a new branch of Buddhism. Others call it a social movement wearing Buddhist clothing. Who led those people out of Hinduism, and why did he settle on Buddhism after weighing other faiths? What do followers believe, and which book guides them? Why do Buddhists elsewhere, and many scholars, hesitate to accept the school on its own terms? And how many people follow it now, and where do they live?
Bhimrao R. Ambedkar was the fourteenth child in an impoverished Scheduled caste family in Maharashtra. He was born into an "untouchable" family during the colonial era of India. He studied abroad and returned to India in the 1920s to join the political movement. His focus was social and political rights for the Depressed class community. He became a Dalit leader, a lawyer, a politician and a scholar of Buddhism. He also served as Drafting Chairman of the Constitution of India.
In 1935, following disagreements with Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar announced that he intended to leave Hinduism for a different religion. He had concluded that his community could free itself from religious prejudice only by converting. That decision sent him into a study of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam that lasted nearly 21 years. Buddhism was the faith he chose, because he saw it as the only way to end human suffering. Over those two decades he studied Buddhist texts and wrote The Buddha and His Dhamma. That book would reach readers only after his death.
On the 13th of October 1956, Ambedkar held a conference and announced his rejection of Hinduism. Thereafter he left Hinduism and adopted Buddhism as his religious faith. He died about six weeks later.
Every year, the 14th of October is celebrated as Dhammachakra Pravartan Day at Dikshabhoomi in Nagpur. Two other major festivals sit alongside it on the Navayana calendar. They are Ambedkar Jayanti and Buddha's Birthday.
Ambedkar's declaration is remembered in these words: "I will accept and follow the teachings of Buddha. I will keep my people away from the different opinions of Hinayana and Mahayana, two religious orders. Our Buddhism is a Neo-Buddhism, Navayana." Its final phrase offers the first of several names the school carries.
The Sanskrit word Navayāna, written नवयान in Devanagari, means "New Vehicle." Ambedkar called his version of Buddhism Navayāna, or "Neo-Buddhism." Its members describe it as the application of Buddhist principles for the welfare of many. They do not see a sect with radically different ideas. They see a new social movement founded on the principles of Buddhism.
The school is also called Ambedkarite Buddhism, a name it received after its founder's death. Followers are generally called "Buddhists," or Bauddha. They are also called Ambedkarite Buddhists and Neo-Buddhists, and only rarely Navayāna Buddhists.
The word Navayāna has a second and rarer use that has nothing to do with Ambedkar. It can refer to Westernized forms of Buddhism. Outside the subcontinent, the lineages known as Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna take a very different view of the school.
The Buddha and His Dhamma is considered the primary doctrine of Navayana Buddhists. Followers treat it as a culmination of the Buddha's important teachings gathered into a single book. Keown and Prebish, writing in 2013, note that it is "often referred to as their 'bible' and its novel interpretation of the Buddhist path commonly constitutes their only source of knowledge on the subject".
Ambedkar re-emphasized Buddhist principles to address modern issues. Sumant, writing in 2004, says his dhamma doctrine "does not situate morality in a transcendental religious domain". Nor does it place morality in "a civil association, including the state". Instead, dhamma is derived from social conscience and serves as its guiding principle.
Anne Blackburn explains how this reshapes nibbāna, the state that describes enlightenment. For Ambedkar it is a precursor for moral action in the world and is explicitly associated with a non-monastic lifestyle. He defined it as "enough control over passion so as to enable one to walk on the path of righteousness". Moral action, in this reading, rectifies the material suffering of inequality.
Ambedkar judged every idea in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism about an individual's merit and spiritual development to be an insertion. Such ideas, he held, "cannot be accepted to be the word of the Buddha".
Among Navayana Buddhists, Ambedkar is regarded as a bodhisattva, the Maitreya. He is considered the one prophesied to appear and teach the dhamma after it was forgotten. Deitrick, writing in 2013, states that followers revere him as virtually on par with the Buddha. His iconography is part of Navayana shrines, and he is shown with a halo.
Ambedkar described Navayana as an atheist form of Buddhism. Yet Navayana viharas and shrines feature images of both the Buddha and Ambedkar. Followers bow and offer prayers before them. According to Junghare, writing in 1988, Ambedkar has become a deity for his followers and is devotionally worshipped. Her study dates from more than three decades after the conversion.
To mainstream Buddhists outside the subcontinent, Navayāna is not an independent branch native to India, as Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna are. Those lineages are considered legitimate in the Buddhist tradition. Navayāna is viewed instead as a radical and political re-interpretation. Ambedkar regarded Buddhism as a better alternative than Marxism or communism. In his view it took account of the social divisions within Indian society, unlike the homogeneous societies of Europe.
Zelliot and Macy, writing in 1980, argue that Ambedkar's social emphasis "excludes or distort some teaching, fundamental to traditional and canonical Buddhism". Blackburn finds that neither of the competing pictures of traditional Buddhism is historically accurate. She places the Navayana theories as ahistorical, yet an important means for Dalit political mobilization and social movement.
Gombrich, writing in 2012, states that scholars broadly accept that depicting the Buddha as a social reformer is inaccurate. There is no evidence that the Buddha began or pursued social reforms. His aim was the salvation of those who joined his monastic order. Gombrich traces the mistake to western authors in the colonial era, which modernist interpreters keep picking up. He writes that the Buddha's "concern was to reform individuals and help them leave society forever, not to reform the world". He adds, "He never preached against social inequality, only declared its irrelevance to salvation."
Empirical evidence from the Theravada monasteries of Sinhalese society shows that class ideas were prevalent among the sangha monks. In all canonical Buddhist texts, the khattiyas, the warrior class, are always mentioned first. Still, Ambedkar's idea of a casteless society finds support in the evidence. The Buddhist sutras about caste are dated relatively late. Ashokan era edicts and government documents never mention the terms khattiyas, vessas or sudras.
Some outside groups suggest that Navayana may more properly be called Ambedkarism. Ambedkar did not consider himself the originator of a new Buddhism. He said he was reviving original Buddhism after centuries of "misguided interpretation" by wrong-headed Buddhist monks. Skaria notes that others see him attempting a synthesis of Karl Marx with the ancient Buddha, since he worked on essays about both in his final years. Martin Fuchs admires the effort to seek a "post-religious religion" driven by the "reasonable principle of sociality". Janet Contursi is sharper. She says Ambedkar "speaks through Gautama and politicizes the Buddha philosophy as he theologizes his own political views".
The Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Act, 1990 granted reservation to Dalit Buddhists and recognized their Scheduled Caste status.
The 2011 Census of India counted 8.4 million Buddhists in the country. Navayana Buddhists make up about 87 percent of them, or 7.3 million people. Nearly 90 percent of all Navayana Buddhists in India, some 6.5 million, live in Maharashtra state.
A 2017 IndiaSpend.com report on census data found that Buddhists had a literacy rate of 81.29 percent, higher than the national average of 72.98 percent. It did not distinguish Navayana Buddhists from other Buddhists. About 80 percent of the country's Buddhists live in Maharashtra, where their literacy rate is 83.17 percent. That is slightly higher than the statewide average of 82.34 percent.
Jean Darian argues that the conversion and the growth that followed were due in part to nonreligious factors. She points to the political and economic needs of the community, and the needs of political leaders. She also points to the expanding administrative structure in India.
Updated
Common questions
What is Navayana Buddhism?
Navayana is a socially engaged school of Buddhism founded and developed by the Indian jurist and social reformer B. R. Ambedkar. The name means "New Vehicle," and the school is also called Neo-Buddhism and Ambedkarite Buddhism.
Who founded Navayana Buddhism and when did it begin?
B. R. Ambedkar founded Navayana in 1956. On the 14th and the 15th of October 1956, 380,000 members of oppressed communities converted from Hinduism.
What is the main book of Navayana Buddhists?
The Buddha and His Dhamma by Ambedkar is considered the primary doctrine of Navayana Buddhists. It was published after his death, and followers see it as a culmination of the Buddha's important teachings in one book.
How many Navayana Buddhists are there in India?
The 2011 Census of India counted 8.4 million Buddhists. About 87 percent of them, or 7.3 million, are Navayana Buddhists, and nearly 90 percent of those live in Maharashtra.
Why do some scholars and Buddhists criticize Navayana?
Mainstream Buddhists outside the subcontinent view Navayana as a radical and political re-interpretation of Buddhism. Scholars such as Gombrich say there is no evidence that the Buddha pursued social reform.
What is Dhammachakra Pravartan Day in Navayana Buddhism?
Dhammachakra Pravartan Day is celebrated every year on the 14th of October at Dikshabhoomi in Nagpur. It marks the mass conversions of 1956.
All sources
33 references cited across the entry
- 1BookReligious Conversion in India: Modes, Motivations, and MeaningsTartakov, Gary — Oxford University Press — 2003
- 2BookCastes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern IndiaDirks, Nicholas B. — Princeton University Press — 2011
- 4Three reasons why Ambedkar embraced Buddhism2022-04-14
- 5BookRoutledge Handbook of Contemporary IndiaEleanor Zelliot — Taylor & Francis — 2015
- 6BookBuddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and CasteGail Omvedt — Sage — 2003
- 7BookTo Uphold the WorldRich, Bruce — Penguin Books — 2008
- 8Journal"Others Think I am Airy-fairy": Practicing Navayana Buddhism in a Dutch Secular ClimateJelle Wiering — 2016-07-02
- 9BookEngaged Buddhism in the WestChristopher S. Queen — Wisdom Publications — 2000
- 10BookThe Princeton Dictionary of BuddhismBuswell, Robert E. Jr. et al. — Princeton University Press — 2013
- 11NewsPress interview at Sham Hotel, Nagpur13 October 1956
- 12BookReconstructing the World: B.R. Ambedkar and Buddhism in IndiaSumant, Yashwant — Oxford University Press — 2004
- 13BookThe Ideology of Religious StudiesFitzgerald, Timothy — Oxford University Press — 2003
- 14BookUrban Utopias: Excess and Expulsion in Neoliberal South AsiaBose, M.B. — Springer — 2017
- 16JournalDr. Ambedkar: The hero of the Mahars, ex-untouchables of IndiaI.Y. Junghare — 1988
- 17JournalReligion, kinship and Buddhism: Ambedkar's vision of a moral communityAnne M. Blackburn — 1993
- 18BookStudies in the History of BuddhismEleanor Zelliot et al. — B.R. Publishing — 1980
- 19BookCharisma and Canon: Essays on the Religious History of the Indian SubcontinentMartin Fuchs — Oxford University Press — 2001
- 20JournalBuddhism and the caste systemY. Krishan — 1986
- 21BookBuddhist Precept & PracticeRichard Gombrich — Routledge — 2012
- 22BookThe Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual ChangeRandall Collins — Harvard University Press — 2000
- 23BookEngaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in AsiaState University of New York Press — 1996
- 24BookIntegrative Religious Education in Europe: A Study-of-Religions ApproachWanda Alberts — Walter de Gruyter — 2007
- 25BookBuddhism and Science: A Guide for the PerplexedLopez, Donald S. Jr. — University of Chicago Press — 2009
- 27BookBuddhism in the Shadow of BrahmanismBronkhorst — Brill — 2011
- 28JournalAmbedkar, Marx, and the Buddhist questionA. Skaria — Taylor & Francis — 201
- 29JournalPolitical Theology: Text and Practice in a Dalit Panther CommunityJanet A. Contursi — Cambridge University Press — 1993
- 30BookCaste-based Discrimination in International Human Rights LawSurya Singh — Oxford University Press — 2016
- 33JournalSocial and Economic Factors in the Rise of BuddhismJean C. Darian — Oxford University Press — 1977
- 34BookEncyclopedia of BuddhismRoutledge — 2013
- 35BookA Companion to Buddhist PhilosophyChristopher Queen — John Wiley & Sons — 2015