Ambedkar Jayanti 2023: The 22 Rules That Dr.Ambedkar LIved By

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Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, more famously known as Babasaheb Ambedkar was the architects of the Indian Constitution. He also played an active role in politics, and a Jury by profession, a buddhist activist by preoccupation, an anthropologist, historian, and a scholar.

Ambedkar Jayanti is being celebrated to commemorate the birth day of Dr. Baba sahib Ambedkar. Oppressed by the higher classes in the traditional Hindu hierarchical set up, he resorted to Buddhism later in life. He had his own misgivings with the upper class and unaddressed issues that never got solved.

Ambedkar's Offical Conversion

Nagpur, was where, Dr. Baba sahib Ambedkar, officially renounced his faith of birth and became a Buddhist on 14th October 1956. After having converted, he set up a rulebook for his followers and prescribed 22 vows for them to follow. He knew that the ancient Hindu tradition was not progressive from the modern point of view and found its basic principles too hard to understand.

As per his views, only the upper class benefited from the Hindu hierarchical system. If a Brahmin woman gives birth to a baby, the baby will be privileged enough to study well, get into a good job. If a woman from the lower caste gives birth to a baby, as per hierarchy, it is doomed to the life of a sweeper. The Brahmin baby is privileged by birth and the discrimination starts right at birth. It is not the baby's fault to be born in such a circumstance but the fault of the system that betrays itself. Ambedkar found it hard to fathom and doubted how the system can ever improve. He resorted only to the Buddhism to see progress in the lives of downtrodden individuals.

Ambedkar's 22 Vows

1. I shall stop believing in Gods of Holy Trinity and I won't worship them.
2. I shall have no faith in Rama and Krishna and I will not worship them.
3. I will not believe in 'Gauri', Ganapati and other gods and I will not do puja to them.
4. I will not believe in incarnations.
5. I believe that Lord Buddha was not an incarnation of Vishnu and consider this a false information.
6. I shall not perform final rites as per the traditional method and I shall not offer pind dan.
7. I will not do anything that violates the norm that Buddha has set.
8. I shall not allow Brahmins to perform any ceremonies.
9. I believe that all men are born equal.
10. I shall strive to establish equality.
11. I shall follow the "eightfold path' that Buddha preached.
12. I shall follow the 'paramitas' by the Buddha.
13. I shall show compassion towards all and protect them.
14. I shall not steal
15. I shall not lie
16. I shall not commit any carnal offense
17. I shall not use intoxicants.
18. I shall follow the noble eightfold path and practise compassion in everyday life.
19. I renounce Hinduism because it harms humanity and stops the progress of humanity as it is based on inequality and hence I take Buddhism to be my religion, my leading light.
20. I firmly believe that the only religion is the Buddhist Dhamma of the Buddha.
21. I believe that Buddhism is equal to a re-birth for me.
22. I declare that I will live my life according to the Buddhist principles.