Caste by M N Srinivas

Author:M N Srinivas [Srinivas, M. N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789351187837
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2014-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

Buddhism and Its Impact: The Prevailing Urban Perspective

A commonly held view on the impact of the conversion to Buddhism is that it has led to a great psychological release for the former Untouchables. This view is particularly endorsed by Zelliot (1977: 133, 137-138), whose evidence is based on interviews with some Dalit leaders. She emphasizes this point and refers to the impact of conversion in the following way: ‘Contemporary observers report a general elation among the Mahar community — a sudden sense of psychological freedom among students, a gallant mood in the villages, a ceremonious discarding of god images in the river, a pious closing of the home-brew stills in the slums of Bombay.’ She goes so far as to suggest that the psychological impact of Buddhism and the effect of the new identity can best be gauged from Buddhist literature, writings and songs. She cites a song written by Waman Kardak, a Buddhist singer, as epitomizing the feeling of psychological release. Developing her argument, she quotes a Dalit writer, Gangadhar Pantavane, as saying: ‘Bhimrao (Ambedkar) has placed us in the lap of a life-giving religion and so has awakened psychological independence.... This is the religion of Gautam, who with love won the world, and the spine of this religion is humanity.’ According to Zelliot, ‘For Waman Kardak, an uneducated but highly skilled and professional performer, and for Gangadhar Pantavane, a Professor of Marathi in Milind College and a writer and an editor, the profoundly satisfying psychological meaning of the conversion is clear.’

Eleanor Zelliot (1966b: 205) coined the term ‘pali-ization’ with reference to the conversion of Mahars to Buddhism. Says Zelliot, The conversion continues the “purifying process” that has been part of the movement all along, a “Pali-ization” rather than a “Sansksritization” of practices, to use the Buddhist equivalent for M. N. Srimvas’ useful word for the emulation of high caste practices.’ She emphasizes (ibid.) in no uncertain terms that ‘the conversion was accompanied by the throwing out of the Hindu gods from the Maharwada...’. Sunanda Patwardhan (1973: 153), another sociologist, shares the same views.

Zelliot’s observations are also endorsed by yet another sociologist, Jayshree Gokhale-Turner. In an unpublished paper, she reiterates the theme of, and emphasizes the aspect of the Mahars’ pride in Buddhism. 3

Owen Lynch, probably the most perceptive amongst the sociologists dealing with this issue, while studying the conversion of the Jatavas of Agra to Buddhism, has a different perspective. He describes Dr Ambedkar’s conversion movement as ‘saintly polities’. Says Lynch ([1969] 1974: 143), ‘Ambedkar well knew that religion was suffused into every nook and cranny of Indian society and that the mind of the masses had not yet learned to distinguish that which is Caesar’s from that which is God’s. He therefore turned to “religiofication” — the art of turning practical purposes into holy causes. Buddhism is a political religion which the Jatav masses can respond to. It pours the new wine of political modernity into the old bottles of religious tradition. It was a stroke of

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