Navayana Buddhism

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

On October 5, Mission Jai Bhim and The Buddhist Society of India organised a public meeting in Delhi to commemorate Buddhist Conversion Day. 

• Every year Dussehra is also celebrated as Ashoka Vijaya Dashami to commemorate Buddhist Conversion day. 
• On October 14, 1956, B. R. Ambedkar along with more than half a million followers had embraced Buddhism in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

Navayana Buddhism

• On October 13, 1935, Ambedkar, as president of the ‘Yeola Conversion Conference’ near Nasik, announced his decision to renounce Hinduism, as a path to contest the Hindu caste order. 
• He asked the assembled members from the depressed castes to abandon struggles such as the temple-entry agitations and advised them to leave Hinduism entirely and embrace another religion.
• Ambedkar embraced Buddhism in a grand ceremony at Nagpur’s Deekshabhoomi, where more than five lakh followers had assembled to follow his decision. 
• Under the presence of monk Chandramani, Ambedkar and his wife took the Buddhist vows. 
• He then recited the three jewels (Trisharan), five precepts (Panchsheel), pronounced the self-crafted 22 vows for the assembled people and renounced Hinduism. 
• The event is marked as the renaissance of Buddhism in India. 
• In the post-event deliberation, Ambedkar called his version of Buddhism Navayana (followers are called neo-Buddhists), differentiating it with the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism. 
• Every year in October, lakhs of people assemble at Nagpur’s Deekshabhoomi to pay homage to Ambedkar and to celebrate the historic day.
• Navayana Buddhism differs with the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism.

The 22 vows are divided into three major sections.

• First part – to refuse to worship the Hindu pantheon or to follow Hindu religious dogmas
• Second – it challenges the authority of the Brahmin priest
• Third –promises to follow Buddhist principles.

Demographic status of neo-Buddhists in India

• The Buddhist population is a mere 0.70%, of which 87% are neo-Buddhists.
• Further, a large majority of it (around 80%) reside in Maharashtra (5.8% of the total population).
• However, it is mainly the Mahar caste that primarily converted to Buddhism. Some other converted communities include the Matang castes and some sections of Maratha castes.
• The rest are traditional Buddhists and are scattered mainly in north-eastern States like Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura, etc.
• There has been a decline in the growth rate of Buddhists in India in recent years.
• The neo-Buddhists of Maharashtra have established numerous viharas and meditation centres.