What Path to Salvation?

by B.R. Ambedkar

Speech delivered by Dr. Ambedkar to the Bombay Presidency Mahar Conference, 31st May 1936,
Bombay.
Translated from the Marathi by Vasant W. Moon. The typescript of the translation, with handwritten
emendations, was presented by the translator to Eleanor Zelliot on 25 January 1988, and has been
contributed by her for this website.
Edited by Frances W. Pritchett. Editing has consisted of breaking up very long paragraphs, correcting
typographical errors, and making small adjustments in punctuation and in English grammar and usage.
All material enclosed in parentheses has been provided by the translator. All material enclosed in square
brackets has been added by the editor.
Source:Columbia University

Unknown Binding

About the author

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891 into an “Untouchable” family of modest means. One of India’s most radical thinkers, he transformed the social and political landscape in the struggle against British colonialism. He was a prolific writer who oversaw the drafting of the Indian Constitution and served as India’s first Law Minister. In 1935, he publicly declared that though he was born a Hindu, he would not die as one. Ambedkar eventually embraced Buddhism, a few months before his death in 1956.

Reviews

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Babasaheb's works are not only food for thought but they inspire you to become a better person. You realise that you are reading the ideas/thoughts of a man who was compassionate, kind, loving, intelligent and truthful. Through this speech, Babasaheb talks about the need for conversion. He believes that a life of freedom, dignity and self-respect is possible only when the untouchables leave the Hindu fold.

In the very beginning of the speech, Ambedkar refers to need for each Dalit caste to determine their own future independently. This is similar to what Periyar had endorsed in Tamil Nadu. The need for each caste to pave their own path to liberation in accordance with their unique social and material problems was recognised by both Ambedkar and Periyar. Ergo, caste associations/organisations did have the lofty goal of uplifting themselves from misery into the light. It is very unfortunate that some of these caste-based organisations have become rabid casteists.

Further into the speech, Babasaheb highlights the plight of Dalits. On reading it, it was saddening for me to realise that the very same atrocities are still a living reality for millions of Dalits in 2020.

This is how he describes it: "The instances of beating by the caste Hindus for the simple reason that you have claimed the right to enroll your children in the Government school, or the right to draw water from the public well, or the right to take out a marriage procession with the groom on horseback, are very common. You all know such instances, as they happen right before your eyes. But there are several other causes for which atrocities are committed on the Untouchables by the caste Hindus--causes which, if they are revealed, the foreigners will be surprised to hear.

The Untouchables are beaten for putting on clothes of superior quality. They are whipped because they used utensils made of metal like copper, etc. Their houses are burnt for having purchased land for cultivation. They are beaten for putting on the sacred thread on their body. They are beaten for refusing to carry away dead animals and eat the carrion, or for walking through the village road with socks and shoes on, or for not bowing down before a caste Hindu, or for taking water in a copper pot while going out in the field to ease [=defecate]. Recently, an instance has been noticed where the Untouchables were beaten for serving chapatis at a dinner party."

Throughout the speech, Babasaheb focuses more on the material aspects of conversion and it can be said that his conception of religion is based on a rational, scientific worldview that looks at religion only as a means of knitting together a community. He does not even mention a word about the supernatural or the metaphysical. He then goes on to expound how Hinduism deprives the oppressed castes of their dignity through their lack of sympathy and feelings of equality and liberty.

In this speech, he sheds a lot of light on the distinction between casteism that is prevalent in Hinduism and in the other religions - namely, Islam and Christianity. This is what he says:

"One more argument is put forth against Conversion. Some Hindus argue, "Conversion is worthless if you do it out of frustration with the caste system. Wherever you may go, you will face caste. Muslims have their own castes. If you become Christians, there are also castes." This is what these Hindus plead. Unfortunately, it has to be admitted that the Caste system has crept into other religions also in this country. But the burden of nurturing this great sin lies with the Hindus alone. This disease originally started from the Hindus, and thereafter infected others. Although the castes exist among Muslims and Christians alike, it will be meanness [=meaningless?] to liken it with that of the Hindus.

There is a great distinction between the caste system of the Hindus and that of the Muslims and Christians. Firstly, it must be noted that though castes exist among Christians and Muslims, it is not the chief characteristic of their body social. If one asks, "Who are you?" and someone says, "I am a Hindu," one is not satisfied with this reply. He is further asked, "What is your caste?" And unless this is replied to, no one can have the idea of his social status. From this it is evident how caste has prime importance in the Hindu religion, and how minor it is in Christianity and among the Muslims.

There is one more difference between the caste system of the Hindus and that of the Muslims and Christians. The caste system among the Hindus has the foundation of religion. The castes in other religions have no sanction of their religion. If Hindus proclaim [that they intend] to disband the caste system, their religion will come in the way. On the other hand, if the Muslims and Christians start movements for abolishing the caste system in their religion, their religion will not obstruct. Hindus cannot destroy their castes without destroying their religion. Muslims and Christians need not destroy their religion for eradication of the castes. Rather, their religion will support such movements to a great extent."

He also talks about conversion paving the way for perpetual political safeguards; thus, asking his comrades not to worry about the potential loss of their hard-earned political safeguards. But I think the contemporary consensus on this issue is mildly different. We want the Dalit converts to be given the very same safeguards that are constitutionally secured unto him. This is based on the understanding that conversion does not reduce the question of representation and opportunities, especially for Dalits.

True to the democrat in him, he finishes his speech by giving his people the choice to disagree with him. His parting words of advice is also something to be remembered by all of us. He quotes the Buddha's words: "So Ananda, be self-illuminating like the lamp. Don't be dependent for light, like the Earth. Don't be a satellite. Be a light unto thyself. Believe in Self. Don't be dependent on Others. Be truthful. Always take refuge in the Truth, and do not surrender to anybody!"

[Akshay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: What Path to Salvation?

Author: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

"History is not the mere past of the human race; it is its present. We carry the past on our backs." — Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s What Path to Salvation? is not just a political or religious manifesto—it is a civilizational reckoning. Published as a culmination of his decades-long philosophical engagement with the Dhamma and social justice, this treatise is the crystallization of Ambedkar’s moral, spiritual, and political commitments. It is a profound question posed not only to Hindus, Buddhists, or Indians, but to humanity itself.

In this work, Ambedkar rejects the suffocating orthodoxy of Hinduism, especially its caste-based order, and turns decisively toward Buddhism—not the ritualistic one, but the rational, ethical, and liberating Dhamma of the Buddha. The book offers a clear moral vision: liberation is not just spiritual; it must also be social and political.

  

  “Religion must be judged by social standards based on social ethics. If religion is not morality, then religion is nothing.” — Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
  

---


Content & Themes



Radical Critique of Hinduism: Ambedkar dissects the core tenets of Hinduism, especially its legitimization of the caste system. He argues that any religion which sanctifies inequality cannot offer salvation.

Choice of Buddhism: He advocates for Navayana Buddhism—a modern reinterpretation of the Buddha's teachings stripped of supernaturalism and focused on rationalism, ethics, and social reform.

Social Emancipation: The book suggests that the route to personal salvation is inseparable from the liberation of the oppressed masses. Salvation, in Ambedkar’s eyes, is not personal nirvana, but collective justice.


---


Comparison with Contemporaries

Ambedkar’s moral and political clarity set him apart from his contemporaries like Gandhi, Nehru, and even global voices such as Martin Luther King Jr. or Frantz Fanon.

Gandhi vs. Ambedkar: Where Gandhi saw caste as reformable, Ambedkar saw it as irredeemable. He rejected the varnashrama as inherently exploitative. Unlike Gandhi's appeal to 'Harijan' upliftment, Ambedkar demanded annihilation of caste.

Frantz Fanon: Like Fanon, Ambedkar believed that the oppressed must reject the cultural tools of the oppressor. If Fanon’s colonized man must kill the colonizer within, Ambedkar’s Untouchable must kill the Brahminical consciousness within the self and society.

John Rawls: While Rawls’s theory of justice is hypothetical and structural, Ambedkar’s is visceral and lived. His was a justice that burned in the hearth of daily humiliation. As Rawls famously said, “Justice is the first virtue of social institutions”—Ambedkar made it the first virtue of religion itself.


---


Intellectual Impact

Ambedkar has earned praise from philosophers, sociologists, and political scientists globally.

Amartya Sen: “Ambedkar was a pioneering thinker who not only helped shape Indian democracy but brought the idea of justice into the heart of policy and social theory.”

Martha Nussbaum: “Ambedkar was one of the greatest philosophers of freedom in the 20th century, whose works remain unjustly neglected in global philosophical discourse.”

Cornel West: “Ambedkar’s genius lay in fusing spirituality with political resistance. He is India’s spiritual revolutionary.”


---


Legacy and Relevance

In an age where religious fundamentalism, economic inequality, and social segregation are reemerging globally, What Path to Salvation? becomes a prophetic text. It warns us of the dangers of ossified belief systems and inspires the construction of a just, moral order rooted in compassion, not hierarchy.

“Buddha’s religion was a revolution. It was not a negation of the world; it was the transformation of the world.” — Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Final Verdict: What Path to Salvation? is essential reading—not just for students of religion or caste, but for anyone invested in the question of how to live ethically in a deeply unjust world. It is the moral soul of India's democratic imagination.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)