Though Labels Change, Essence Persists...... 'Evolution' Of Dr Ambedkar's Navayana Buddhism

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 22 May 2023 The erudite Mr Ashok Sharma doesn't agree with me that, " Ambedkar's Navayana Buddhism has a vestigial allegiance to Hinduism." This statement indeed needs a detailed elaboration. Agreed, Dr Ambedkar propounded and proclaimed his 'New Vehicle' (Navayana) Buddhism as something unique as he already rejected the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism as well as Hinduism, but that was on paper. Mind you, he left Hinduism and adopted Buddhism about six weeks before his death. He may have completely discarded Hinduism as his 22 vows categorically suggest. But, could he see the realization of his dream 'project'? Alas, he passed away soon after. Ambedkar was against deification (a prominent and canonised attribute of Hinduism) and godhood. Since he was highly educated, he could do away with the idea of god/s (in the context of Hinduism). But, ironically his followers deify him and today, he's almost a god to them. So is Buddha who's called Bhagwan Buddha. What an irony! The man who always flouted god/s and all esoteric beliefs, himself became a god to his followers. Religion is an ingrained habit. It's the perpetuation of an earlier faith into the new one. Vestigial allegiance never goes completely. Hasn't Islam 'plagiarised' a lot many customs and rituals from Judaism? Circumcision, Halal (Jews call it Kosher), not eating pork etc. Early Persian poet Abu Mansur Daqiqi (935 CE-977 CE), who contributed to Shahnama with his 1, 000 verses, embraced Islam just to survive. He was a Zoroastrian. He openly showed his allegiance to the earlier religion he belonged to. Here's the English rendition of his Persian verse: 'Daqiqi has chosen four qualities of all good and evil things in the world: Ruby-coloured lips and the sound of the lute. Old red wine and the Zoroastrian religion!'. It's worthwhile to mention that numerous prominent Iranian scholars and officials converted to Islam during the early Islamic period in order to maintain their means of livelihood but practised Zoroastrianism in secret. The first poet of modern Persian, Rudaki or Rodaki (880 CE - 941 CE) remained loyal to Zoroastrianism despite embracing Islam. The great Persian mystic Bayazid Bastami (804 CE - 874 CE) secretly wrote panegyrics on Zarathustra despite going ga-ga over Muhammad and Allah. His grandfather, Surooshaan, embraced Islam. Jainas who call themselves to be a minority are actually Hindus in disguise. Likewise, Dalits who belonged to Hinduism like Ambedkar himself, still subconsciously show their allegiance to Hinduism. Since 90 per cent Ambedkarites are in Maharashtra, people outside the state are not much aware of this form of Buddhism and how its followers still show a trace of allegiance to Hinduism, the faith that ill-treated their forefathers on the basis of class and caste. Many Dalit women still fast during Hindu festivals. You may call it a convert's dilemma. Look at the Qaimkhani Muslims (also spelled as Kayamkhani or Kaimkhani) of the northern belt of India. They still have an emotional attachment to Hinduism as they came from a Rajput clan (precisely from Prithviraj Chauhan). So are Mewati Muslims of Delhi, Alwar, Bharatpur and Haryana (esp. Nuh district). They were also from the Rajput stock. The Muslim descendants of world's first linguist Panini, who wrote ' Ashtadhyayi,' still study Sanskrit. They're known as Panini Muslims. The point is: Though labels change, habits and essence persist. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/evolution-ambedkar-navayana-buddhism/d/129822 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism