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Navayana Buddhism, as articulated by B. R. Ambedkar, is consciously structured to be open to individuals from every caste and social background. It rejects the very idea that spiritual status can be determined by birth, ritual purity, or inherited hierarchy. In this vision, caste is not something to be carried into Buddhist life, but something to be relinquished as incompatible with the Dhamma. The path is defined instead by ethical conduct, rational understanding, and a commitment to equality.
This reinterpretation of Buddhism places human dignity and equality at its center, making the tradition universally accessible to anyone willing to embrace these principles. Those who enter this fold are invited to see themselves not as bearers of a fixed social label, but as practitioners engaged in a shared moral and spiritual project. The movement was shaped with particular sensitivity to the suffering of marginalized communities, yet its doors remain open to all, including those from both higher and lower castes and those outside the caste framework altogether. In this way, Navayana Buddhism presents itself as a radical alternative to caste-based religion, grounded in social justice, human brotherhood, and the deliberate renunciation of birth-based hierarchy.