Dr. Ambedkar (1891-1956) was born into an untouchable family. Being a member of an untouchable family, he faced untouchability at a young age. His father was a military officer under the East India Company and because of that status, he got a golden opportunity to study, unlike other untouchable children who did not get an opportunity to pursue education. Dr. Ambedkar went abroad for his higher studies with the help of some benefactors. Even after returning to India after having completed higher education, Dr. Ambedkar had to face the same problem of untouchability. Dr. Ambedkar realised that even after taking higher education, if this was happening to him, how would the rest of India’s untouchables be treated, so he determined that he would fight against this injustice. For this, he first started making people aware of the atrocities being committed against them through magazines like Mooknayak (voiceless), and Bahishkrit Bharat ((Untouchable India) after this he organised movements in a variety of ways to correct this unequal social system such as Kalaram temple entry movement,Chawdar Tank Movement, burning of Manu Smriti etc. Besides that, Dr. Ambedkar also played a major role in drafting the Indian Constitution. However, seeing that the Constitution didn't reform Indian society as he had hoped, Dr. Ambedkar turned more strongly toward working with religion. Despite his many efforts, Dr. Ambedkar found that there is no change in the attitude of upper-caste Hindus towards untouchables. He knew that the problem of untouchability was not a social, economic, or political cause, but its root cause was religion. So, he tried to solve it by a religious method. In 1935 he declared that he was born as a Hindu, but he will not die as a Hindu. He studied various religions of India for about 20 years keeping the principles of freedom, equality, fraternity, and justice as its core. Dr. Ambedkar was greatly influenced by Buddha and his teachings, especially by the principles of Samtā (equality) karuṇā (compassion) maitrī (love) and prajñā (wisdom). On 14 October 1956 in Nagpur along with his 500,000 followers, he converted to Buddhism. It is a fact that even after conversion, discrimination and exploitation remained unresolved. After Dr. Ambedkar passed away, there was no one like him who could lead the newly converted Buddhists; however, at present, thanks to some Dalit organisations that are doing important work to improve the status of Dalits. b
Acknowledgement.......i 摘要..................ii Abstract..............iv Table of Contents.....vi List of Tables........vii List of Figures........viii I. Introduction.........1 A. Research Motivation and Purpose.......1 B. Methodology.........2 C. Literature Review......3 II. The Life and Works of Dr. Ambedkar......7 A. Social Background of Dr. Ambedkar........7 B. Birth and Family.......13 C. Education Growth and Social Experience.......14 D. Political Career and Social Movement........15 III. Dr. Ambedkar’s Understanding of Indian Religions......25 A. Understanding of Hinduism...........25 B. Understanding of Christianity..........33 C. Understanding of Islam.......38 D. Understanding of Sikhism.......41 E. Understanding of Buddhism.......43 F. The Reason Why Dr. Ambedkar Choose Buddhism.......59 IV. Dr. Ambedkar’s Conversion to Buddhism and Its Influence.......67 A. The Great Conversation in Nagpur.......67 B. The Condition of Newly Converted Buddhists After Dr. Ambedkar’s Death.......71 C. Living Buddhism in India after Dr. Ambedkar.......75 V. Conclusion.......85 References.......89 Chronology.......92 Revival of Buddhism in India（Booklet）.......95
