ABSTRACT
This chapter compares and contrasts the discussion on caste found in early Buddhist literature with the writings of Dr B. R. Ambedkar, and tries to understand their relationship. The Pāli suttas mention peculiar characteristics of the caste system such as endogamy, caste-based division of labour, graded inequality and denying “lower” castes the right to education, but none of them attempt a formal definition of caste or discuss its genesis and mechanism, although it is clear that they see caste as a human creation. Ambedkar discusses these issues and also the deleterious social and ethical impacts of the caste system. The chapter tries to show how Ambedkar’s treatment of caste evolved over a period of time and how it was considerably influenced by early Buddhist critiques of caste. One can find a strong connection between the Buddha and Ambedkar on the matter of the refutation of caste, and the remedy for overcoming it. There is, however, an important difference between the two. While the Buddha’s safeguards against inequality were only operational within the limits of his Saṅgha, Ambedkar extended them to all Indians by incorporating them in the Indian Constitution.
