Navayāna Buddhism, as articulated by B. R. Ambedkar, is deliberately fashioned as a spiritual path that confronts caste and discrimination at their roots. It rejects the caste system and the entire ideology of ritual purity and impurity based on birth as fundamentally incompatible with the Buddha’s teaching. Caste is denied any grounding in dhamma, karma, or past-life merit, and the Buddha is presented as a radical egalitarian whose authentic message recognizes no hereditary hierarchy. In this vision, all human beings possess inherent dignity and are equally capable of awakening, regardless of social status or origin.

A central strategy of this reinterpretation is doctrinal: key concepts such as karma, rebirth, and the Four Noble Truths are read through the lens of social suffering. Explanations that attribute “low” birth or oppression to misdeeds in a previous life are rejected, because they can be used to legitimize inequality and resignation. Instead, suffering and degradation are traced to unjust social structures, with caste oppression treated as a paradigmatic form of dukkha. Liberation is thus understood not only as an inner transformation but also as emancipation from oppressive institutions in this very life, rather than patient endurance for the sake of future rewards.

From this perspective, the dhamma becomes a “religion of morality” grounded in liberty, equality, and fraternity, where social equality is not an optional add-on but the heart of practice. Ethical life is defined by active resistance to caste, untouchability, gender inequality, and economic exploitation, and by the cultivation of compassion and rational discernment. Spiritual progress is measured less by ritual observance or monastic status and more by social responsibility, solidarity with the oppressed, and the willingness to challenge discriminatory customs. Education and critical thinking are encouraged as means to loosen the grip of inherited prejudices and to reorient the community toward justice.

This reimagined Buddhism also takes institutional and communal form. New Buddhist communities and organizations are envisioned as caste-blind spaces, where no jāti distinctions are recognized and membership is open on equal terms. Mass conversions, especially among Dalits, function as both spiritual and social acts: a conscious exit from the Hindu caste order and the assumption of a new, egalitarian identity. Buddhist vows and ritual life are shaped to emphasize equality, dignity, and social justice, and leadership is cultivated among those historically excluded from religious authority. In this way, Navayāna transforms Buddhism into a vehicle for both inner awakening and the collective annihilation of caste.