ABSTRACT
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) led millions of India’s untouchables to Buddhist conversion in 1956 after a long career as a civil rights attorney, scholar and national leader. In drafting the Indian Constitution as India’s first Law Minister, and writing his last work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, Ambedkar revealed his devotion to values encountered in his wide-ranging education: “Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha,” the touchstones of Buddhist identity; “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” the ideals of the French Revolution; and “Educate Agitate, Organize,” the slogan of the Fabian socialists of London. The liberative Buddhist social democracy Ambedkar envisioned was woven of these threads.
