Mahaparinirvan Diwas: Ambedkar’s assertion that Buddhism is superior than Marxism.
The Mahaparinirvan Diwas, or death anniversary, of Dr. BR Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, is celebrated on December 6. Translations of “parinirvan” include “nirvan” after death, which refers to emancipation from the cycles of life and death. Less than two months after converting to Buddhism, Dr. Ambedkar passed away on December 6, 1956, fulfilling his vow that “I shall not die a Hindu.”
Ambedkar, who was intensely spiritual and aware of the significance of religion in public life, is frequently misunderstood to be against religion because of his scathing critique of major religions. Even though Ambedkar’s opinions on Buddhism’s superiority to other religions are well known, he also thought that Marxism, a theory that is often associated with rejecting religion, was inferior to the Buddha’s way.
Ambedkar contrasted Buddhism and Marxism in an essay written in his clear and logical style, arguing that while both seek the same goal of a just and happy society, the methods advocated by Buddha are superior to those of Marx.
“A Marxist can easily scoff at that and scoff at the whole notion of equating Marx and Buddha. Buddha is so old, and Marx so contemporary! Marxists can say that Buddha is a mere primitive in comparison to Marx.
Ambedkar said, “I am confident that if Marxists would hold on to their prejudices and study Buddha and understand what he stood for, they would change their attitude.
Ambedkar summarized the basic tenets of Buddhism and Marxism in a series of clear bullet points before pointing out their similarities.
In his list of 25 points for Buddhism, “all men are equal,” “the function of religion is to remake the world and make it happy and not to explain its origin or its end,” “private property ownership brings power to one class and misery to another,” and “this misery is its Eliminating the cause by eliminating it is a good thing for society.”
Marx, according to him, was “a remnant of fire, slight but very important.” He summarized the rest into four points, “The object of philosophy is to reconstruct the world and not to waste its time in explaining the origin of the world; that the ownership of private property gives power to one class by exploitation and misery to another; and that the removal of misery by the abolition of private property is necessary for the well-being of society.”
Dr. Buddhism’s dedication to the abolition of private property, according to Ambedkar, is demonstrated by the way its “monks” renounce all material possessions. According to him, the regulations governing beggars’ ownership of property and goods were “much stricter than those found under communism in Russia.”
Buddha set a path for followers to create a happy and just society. Ambedkar said, “Buddha’s methods of transforming man by changing the moral tendency to voluntarily follow the path are evident.” Communists use methods that are direct, brief and quick. They are (2) dictatorship run by the proletariat and (1) violence. The parallels and contrasts between Buddha and Karl Marx are now apparent. Variations are related to means. Both have a common end.
Buddha serves as the foundation of democracy, according to the Indian Constitution. Dictatorship, Buddha had nothing to do with it. He was born a democrat according to Ambedkar.
Ambedkar claimed that communists asserted that the state would eventually fail, but they did not specify when this would occur or what would replace it.
“The theory that the state is a permanent dictatorship is, according to communists, a flaw in the political philosophy of communism. They take refuge in the argument that the state will eventually disintegrate.
According to Ambedkar, of the two questions, what succeeds the state is more crucial because if it is anarchy, then the work put into creating the Communist state will have been for naught.
What good is the Communist State if it can only be maintained through force and produces disorder when that force is removed? After force has been removed, religion is the only thing that could keep it going. But religion is forbidden to Communists. They do not even distinguish between religions that support
Buddhism is the best way to keep communism alive.
Ambedkar drew comparisons between Buddhism and Christianity, which he claimed the Communists “hated”, and insisted that Buddhism did not share the shortcomings of the more traditional faith. Rather than extolling poverty and suffering in this world and encouraging people to think about an afterlife like Christianity, Ambedkar asserted that Buddhism emphasizes happiness in this world and the acquisition of wealth through legitimate means.
“The Russians do not regard Buddhism as the ultimate support for maintaining communism after coercion… They ignore the fact that the Buddha’s establishment of communism for the Sangh without despotism was the greatest of all miracles.
Although this is communism on a very small scale, Lenin could not achieve the miracle of communism without dictatorship. Buddha’s approach is to change a person’s way of thinking and character to do whatever a person does without his own will and according to Ambedkar requires coercion or coercion.
According to him, “equality has no value without either fraternity or liberty” and “although the Communist dictatorship in Russia has made great achievements, it seems that all three can coexist only if one follows the path of the Buddha.” Credit.” The benefits of communism are not universal.