Navayāna Buddhism, as articulated by B. R. Ambedkar, places equality at its very core by rejecting all birth-based hierarchies, especially the caste system and its karmic justifications. Social inequality is not treated as a metaphysical inevitability but as a human creation that must be confronted and transformed. The Buddhist community is envisioned as a democratic saṅgha in which spiritual standing does not depend on caste, class, or gender, but on wisdom, compassion, and ethical conduct. In this way, religious life is reoriented away from inherited status and toward a shared human dignity and equal potential.

This reinterpretation also reshapes the understanding of the Dhamma itself into a moral–social doctrine centered on liberty, equality, and fraternity. Rather than focusing solely on individual escape from suffering, the path is framed as a collective struggle against oppression and social injustice. Core concepts such as karma and rebirth are recast in ethical and social terms so that they no longer serve to legitimize hierarchy or passive acceptance of one’s lot. Nibbāna is thus understood less as a purely otherworldly state and more as a just and free social order brought about through collective ethical transformation.

Navayāna further emphasizes equality by insisting on the universal accessibility of the path. Ritualism, priestly mediation, and esoteric practices that create religious elites are set aside in favor of reason, education, and critical inquiry, which are open to all. Ethical conduct, compassion, and personal responsibility become the primary means of spiritual growth, regardless of social background. In this vision, spiritual practice and social emancipation are not separate pursuits but two dimensions of a single commitment to human equality.

Finally, the movement serves as a vehicle for the empowerment of the oppressed, especially those historically subjected to caste-based discrimination. Mass conversion and the acceptance of vows that explicitly reject caste hierarchy and Brahmanical authority become acts of conscious self-assertion and reclamation of dignity. By grounding values such as liberty, equality, and fraternity in the Buddha’s teaching, Navayāna transforms Buddhism into an explicitly egalitarian and anti-caste project, where the quest for awakening is inseparable from the creation of a more just society.