Navayāna Buddhism, as articulated by B. R. Ambedkar, has served as a profound spiritual and political resource for those resisting caste oppression in India. By reinterpreting the Dhamma as a rational, egalitarian path, it opened a religious space outside the Hindu caste hierarchy and enabled Dalits to claim a new identity grounded in dignity rather than stigma. This alternative identity, often expressed through shared symbols such as the Buddha, Ambedkar, and the language of liberty, equality, and fraternity, transformed conversion into a deliberate act of social protest. The result has been a distinct Dalit-Buddhist consciousness that links inner transformation with collective struggle against injustice.

This reinterpretation has deeply nourished Dalit and anti‑caste movements, offering both ethical language and emotional strength for campaigns against discrimination, exclusion, and violence. Movements for access to land, education, public resources, and basic civil rights have drawn on Navayāna’s emphasis on justice, compassion, and critical reason. Political parties and organizations associated with Ambedkarite thought have used this Buddhist framework to mobilize marginalized communities, treating the assertion of rights as a form of spiritual duty. In this way, Navayāna has helped to shape a broad “Bahujan” political imagination that seeks to unite oppressed groups under a shared vision of social equality.

At the same time, Navayāna has reframed Buddhism itself as a doctrine of social justice directed toward the annihilation of structural suffering rather than a narrow focus on individual karma and rebirth. This has encouraged Buddhist organizations and activists to engage in what is often described as applied Buddhism—literacy work, health initiatives, legal aid, and other forms of social reform in Dalit and other marginalized communities. The vows taken by converts, which explicitly reject caste practices and Brahmanical ritualism, turn everyday ethical life into a continuous practice of resistance to hierarchy. Through this, spiritual discipline and social transformation are woven together rather than treated as separate pursuits.

Navayāna has also left a strong imprint on cultural, educational, and constitutional discourse. The proliferation of Buddha–Ambedkar statues, vihāras, and memorials has created an alternative sacred geography that affirms the historical agency of those long denied it. Educational initiatives, study circles, and a rich body of literature, poetry, theatre, and music have emerged from this milieu, giving voice to both suffering and hope. Within democratic and legal debates, Ambedkar’s understanding of democracy as an ethical ideal resonates with Navayāna’s values, so that defending constitutional guarantees and opposing majoritarian domination can be experienced as part of a broader moral and spiritual vocation.