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Master's Thesis Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department for the Study of Religions Master’s Thesis 2019 Bc. Tereza Menšíková Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department for the Study of Religions Dalits in the Light of Dhamma: Tension between Tradition and Modernity as a Shaping Process of the Collectiveness of Ambedkarite Buddhists Master’s Thesis Bc. Tereza Menšíková Supervisor: Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. 2019 DECLARATION I hereby declare that I have worked on present thesis independently and that I have not used any sources other than those listed in the bibliography and identified as references. I further declare that I have not submitted this thesis at any other institution in order to obtain a degree. In Brno, 12th December 2019 .….……………………. Tereza Menšíková ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. for his insight and guidance and doc. Dušan Deák, Ph.D. for his expert advices and overall support during my studies. This thesis would not have been possible without cooperation and support of my Buddhist friends and respondents from the Buddhist community in Maharashtra. Special thanks go also to the Department for the Study of Religions and Department of Environmental Studies in Brno for the opportunity to conduct field research in India. Last but not least, I wish to thank my family, friends, and my partner, Tomáš, for the inspirational discussions and his bottomless support. CZECH ABSTRACT Od první hromadné konverze Dalitů k buddhismu 14. října 1956 v Nágpuru se navájánský buddhismus rozšířil v Indii a utvořil aktivistická hnutí napříč státem Maháráštra. Diplomová práce má za cíl pokrýt otázku nejednotnosti buddhistické komunity v dnešní Maháráštře skrze interakce a kontruování tradice z perspektivy mladé generace univerzitně vzdělaných buddhistů Ámbédkaritů, kteří žijí v Mumbai a participují na sociálním nebo politickém aktivismu. V pozornosti práce jsou dvě propojená témata: tradice navájány a její vliv na formování kolektivity buddhistů a mobilizační strategie, které se tradice dotýkají. Výzkum se věnuje analýze napětí kolem diskurzů a praktik v každodenním životě, interpretaci tradice a následkům sociálního jednání, které sleduje uskutečnění sociální změny a mobilizaci komunit. Analýza je založena na etnografickém výzkumu v Mumbai a v rurální části Maháráštry. Výzkum byl proveden během mé stáže na Tata Institute of Social Sciences na podzim roku 2017. Výsledky poukazují na napětí mezi interpretacemi obrazu B. R. Ámbédkara a Buddhy, které jsou spojeny s praktikami zbožnosti a projevování úcty. Ámbédkarité preferují sekulární a racionální přístup k buddhistické tradici, což dle jejich pohledu naráží na uchopení postav Ámbédkara a Buddhy jako božstev v rurálních částech Maháráštry. Násilí, institucionální překážky a pokusy indických nacionalistů absorbovat buddhismus pod jednotné hinduistické náboženství vytváří v buddhistech pocit ohrožení a stavu nouze, což radikalizuje jejich mobilizační strategie. Závěrem práce tvrdím, že tato reakce může být vnímána jako obranný mechanismus menšiny pro zachování své tradice a identity. Klíčová slova Buddhisté Ámbédkarité, B. R. Ámbédkar, dalité, utváření kolektivity, tradice, sociální konstruktivismus, mobilizační strategie, Maháráštra ENGLISH ABSTRACT Since the first mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur, the Navayana Buddhism was spreading through India and formed diverse activist movements across the state of Maharashtra. The thesis aims to cover the issue of (dis)unity of the Buddhist community in contemporary Maharashtra through their interactions with and construction of tradition from the perspective of the young generation of university- educated Ambedkarite Buddhists who live in Mumbai and are socially or politically active. Two interlinked topics are at the center of my interest: firstly, Navayana tradition and its influence on forming the Buddhist collectiveness, and secondly, Buddhist mobilization strategies within the tradition itself. The main areas of interest in the analysis are tensions around discourse and practices in everyday life, interpretation of tradition, and consequences of social actions aiming to make social change and mobilize communities. The analysis is based on ethnographic research in Mumbai and the countryside of Maharashtra which was conducted during my internship at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in the Fall of 2017. The results indicate tensions around the interpretation of images of B. R. Ambedkar and Buddha connected to practices of worship and paying respect. Ambedkarite Buddhists prefer the secular and rationalized approach to Navayana tradition, which from their perspective collides with the understanding of Ambedkar and Buddha as deities occurring in rural parts of Maharashtra. The violence acts, institutional obstacles and attempts of Hindu nationalists to absorb Buddhists under the Hindu religion create in Buddhists a sense of danger and state of emergency, which makes their mobilization strategies more urgent and radical. I argue that this reaction is a defensive mechanism of a minority to preserve its tradition and identity. Key words Ambedkarite Buddhists, B. R. Ambedkar, Dalits, collectiveness formation, tradition, social constructivism, mobilization strategies, Maharashtra CONTENTS Introduction 1 Mirror of symbolic interactionism and social constructivism................................. 3 Tradition, collectiveness and mobilization in motion ............................................. 4 Tradition as a temporal chain ...................................................................................... 4 Sense of belonging and sharing ................................................................................... 5 Dilemma of social movement identification ............................................................... 6 Mobilization strategies ................................................................................................ 7 Buddhist narrative of oppression and resistance ..................................................... 9 Data and methodology ............................................................................................ 12 1. Tradition and Forming of Collectiveness 15 1.1 Image of Ambedkar and the influence of his texts .......................................... 17 1.1.1 Leader – Hero – Deity ....................................................................................... 17 1.1.2 Ambedkar’s Buddhism and the thrive for modernity ....................................... 20 1.1.3 When tradition meets resistance ....................................................................... 24 1.2 Dalit-Buddhist-Ambedkarite ............................................................................ 30 1.3 Socio-political activism and concept of social change .................................... 34 2. Mobilization Strategies and Tradition Preservation 37 2.1 How to pull an elephant out of the mud? ......................................................... 39 2.1.1 History of caste and anti-Brahminism .............................................................. 42 2.1.2 Buddhism as an alternative ............................................................................... 44 2.1.3 Giving voice to the voiceless ............................................................................ 47 Conclusion 50 References 53 INTRODUCTION "Where there is power, there is resistance, and yet, or rather consequently, this resistance is never in a position of exteriority in relation to power." (Foucault, 1978, p. 95) To study any form of resistance means to study social relations and interactions interwoven with power. Resistance as an opposition to some mechanisms of domination is a strategy of seizing autonomy within the relations power. It can never be outside of those relations, which are constituted by formal and informal institutions in society. This thesis addresses an environment built on resistance against the domination of power based on the classification of people into castes. The primary focus of my research is a community of former "Untouchables" in contemporary Maharashtra who converted to Buddhism – Ambedkarite Buddhists1 – and their everyday life. I aim to cover the issue of (dis)unity of the Buddhist community through their interactions with and construction of tradition from the perspective of the young generation of university-educated Ambedkarists who live in Mumbai and are socially or politically active. To describe and understand this issue, I analyze tensions between discourses and everyday practices and consequences of the social actions aiming to make social change and mobilize communities. In my research, two interlinked topics are at the center of interest: firstly, Buddhist tradition and its influence on forming a sense of collectivity, and secondly, Ambedkarite Buddhists’ mobilization strategies related to the practices and discourse within the tradition itself. The goal is to address the problem of (dis)unity of the Buddhist community, and on the other hand, cover the question of progress and expansion of mobilization strategies and the spreading of Buddhist caste resistance in contemporary Maharashtra. The topic of resistance is a regular part of any socio-political research on social movements, conflict analysis, discrimination based on one’s affiliation to socio- 1 I chose the term Ambedkarite Buddhists after difficulties with addressing participants as Neo-Buddhists or Dalit Buddhists (more in Zelliot, 2005,
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