The Buddha and His Dhamma By Dr.Ambedkar

Ambedkar has also discussed varna-vyavastha in The Buddha and His Dhamma. According to the brahminical doctrine, says Ambedkar, acquisition of knowledge cannot be thrown open to all. It permitted acquisition of knowledge only to male Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishayas. All women and all Shudras, both males and females, were prohibited from acquiring knowledge, even from acquiring literacy. The Buddha, according to Ambedkar, raised a revolt against this atrocious doctrine of the Brahmins. He preached that the road to knowledge must be open to all – to males as well as to females.

According to Ambedkar, Dhamma to be Saddhamma must pull down all social barriers between human beings. According to the Brahmins, the Vedas have defined the ideal society and the Vedasbeing infallible, one must accept that ideal. The ideal society prescribed by the Vedas is known as Chaturvarnya. Such a society, according to the Vedas, must satisfy three conditions. It must be composed of four classes, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The inter-relations of these classes must be regulated by the principle of graded inequality. In other words, all these classes are not to be on equal level but to be one above the other, with respect to status, rights and privileges. The Brahmins were placed at the top; the Kshatriyas were placed below the Brahmins but above the Vaishyas; theVaishyas were placed below the Kshatriyas but above the Shudras; and the Shudras were placed lowest of all. Third feature of Chaturvarnya was that each class must engage itself in an occupation assigned to it. The Brahmin’s occupation was to learn, teach and officiate at religious ceremonies. The Kshatriya’s occupation was to bear arms and fight. The occupation of Vaishyas was trade and business. The Shudras’s occupation was to do menial service for all the three superior classes. No class is to transgress upon the occupation of the other classes. The essence of this theory, says Ambedkar, is inequality. This social inequality is not the result of historical growth. Inequality, in fact, is the official doctrine of Brahminism. The Buddha, according to Ambedkar, was totally opposed to this system. He was the strongest opponent of caste and the earliest and staunchest upholder of equality. There is no argument in favor of caste and inequality, which Buddha did not refute. Many Brahmins challenged Buddha on this issue but he silenced them completely. The theory of Chaturvarnya preached by the Brahmins was based on birth. The worth of a man, according to the Brahmins, was based on birth and nothing else. This doctrine was, according to Ambedkar, repulsive to Buddha. His doctrine was just the opposite of the doctrine of Brahmins. It was his doctrine that worth and not birth was the measure of man. Buddha, says Ambedkar, preached equality. He argued that a religion, which does not preach equality, is not worth having.