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The Essential Ambedkar
One of the pillars of Indian democracy who played a pivotal role in shaping the Indian Constitution, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is also known for his radical, no-holds-barred views on the discrimination against the backward classes, particularly the Untouchables, and the caste politics practised by Hindus. His path-breaking ideas, most of which are relevant even today, are reflected in his writings.
In The Essential Ambedkar, the finest extracts from Ambedkar’s impressive body of work have been selected and thematically arranged, covering issues such as caste and untouchability, the philosophy of the Hindu religion, the making of the Indian Constitution, the emancipation of women, India’s education policy, the Partition and much more. Both a handy reference guide as well as a useful introduction to readers unfamiliar with Ambedkar’s works, The Essential Ambedkar is a befitting tribute to the legacy of Babasaheb.
In The Essential Ambedkar, the finest extracts from Ambedkar’s impressive body of work have been selected and thematically arranged, covering issues such as caste and untouchability, the philosophy of the Hindu religion, the making of the Indian Constitution, the emancipation of women, India’s education policy, the Partition and much more. Both a handy reference guide as well as a useful introduction to readers unfamiliar with Ambedkar’s works, The Essential Ambedkar is a befitting tribute to the legacy of Babasaheb.
418 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2016
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About the author
Bhalchandra Mungekar
3 books1 followerBhalchandra Laxman Mungekar is an Indian economist, educationist, Social worker and Rajya Sabha member. He specialises in agricultural economics and is an expert on B. R. Ambedkar.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 2, 2017
Truly Essential. It covers the best and the most basics of bits about Ambedkar, as the author Bhalchandra Mungekar admits it is a difficult task to choose 500 pages from the gold mine of thousands of pages from Ambedkar. I've rated it with a full 5 rating because how can you rate Ambedkar any less?
The most interesting chapters are 'Emancipation of Women' (special: Ambedkar's message to Women), 'Karl Marx or Buddha', 'Thoughts on Partition'
Some of my favourite quotes:
"Because there is no use in pursuing a certain path if that path is not going to be a lasting path, if it is going to lead you to a jungle, if it is going to lead you to anarchy, there is no use pursuing it."
"I may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is not strong enough to kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied spirit, and is appealed to, and I am afraid will yet live long. One thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu did not give the law of caste and that he could not do so. Caste existed long before Manu. He was an upholder of it and therefore philosophized about it, but certainly he did not and could not ordain the present order of Hindu Society. His work ended with the codifications of existing caste rules and the preaching of caste dharma. The spread and growth of the caste system is too gigantic a task to be achieved by the power or cunning of an individual or of a class."
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The most interesting chapters are 'Emancipation of Women' (special: Ambedkar's message to Women), 'Karl Marx or Buddha', 'Thoughts on Partition'
Some of my favourite quotes:
"Because there is no use in pursuing a certain path if that path is not going to be a lasting path, if it is going to lead you to a jungle, if it is going to lead you to anarchy, there is no use pursuing it."
"I may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is not strong enough to kill his ghost. He lives, like a disembodied spirit, and is appealed to, and I am afraid will yet live long. One thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu did not give the law of caste and that he could not do so. Caste existed long before Manu. He was an upholder of it and therefore philosophized about it, but certainly he did not and could not ordain the present order of Hindu Society. His work ended with the codifications of existing caste rules and the preaching of caste dharma. The spread and growth of the caste system is too gigantic a task to be achieved by the power or cunning of an individual or of a class."
This book is free on Kindle Unlimited.
May 2, 2019
The five stars are for Ambedkar - his prescience, his power of conviction, and the sheer range of his intellectual repertoire. He is cerebral at times, visceral at others, and always brutal. The editor does a fair job of collating some of Ambedkar's most important writings into neatly packaged chapters, but leaves it largely up to the reader to find the context behind them.
February 5, 2020
Must read to understand Ambedkar
This book is a must read for someone who wants to understand Ambedkar's thoughts on different subjects like Caste System, Independence Movement, Buddhism, Communism etc ... If you dont want to read all books authored by Ambedkar separately then this is the best way of knowing him.
This book is a must read for someone who wants to understand Ambedkar's thoughts on different subjects like Caste System, Independence Movement, Buddhism, Communism etc ... If you dont want to read all books authored by Ambedkar separately then this is the best way of knowing him.
June 27, 2021
Leaves your mind in a more aware and awaken state than it was. Adds perspective and context to things and practices which exist even today.
Read
September 11, 2019Debunking the myth that Dr. B R Ambedkar is just an emancipator of Dalits.
Perhaps the greatest irony of this country is that the idea of a man with extraordinary proficiency in such varied subjects of his time has been limited to just one aspect of his numerous contributions. The emancipation of Dalits is just one out of many feathers in his cap. This work helps the reader to understand The Real Ambedkar.
Perhaps the greatest irony of this country is that the idea of a man with extraordinary proficiency in such varied subjects of his time has been limited to just one aspect of his numerous contributions. The emancipation of Dalits is just one out of many feathers in his cap. This work helps the reader to understand The Real Ambedkar.
December 17, 2017
Gave an insight into the thinking of Ambedkar. How he saw and analysed various matters and issues pertaining India. A true thinker, who gave solutions for the problems we were facing.
June 11, 2020
To read Ambedkar is to enter a different world. - Perry Anderson, British Historian
As much as I find it as an injustice to select merely 500 pages and to leave out the rest of 17,500 pages of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's writings, these compilation of his essays on various topics are important from rest of his writings in its own aspects. Dr. Ambedkar was way different from rest of the leaders of contemporary times such as Tagore, Gandhi or Nehru because each one of them had a head start with access to education, social capital and other types of privilege bestowed upon them solely through their birth. While, Ambedkar had the unique distinction of springing from the dust.
Dr. Ambedkar's vast intellect on topics pertaining to anthology, anthropology, sociology, economics, theology, Sanskrit, polity, world history and constitutional studies not only made him a public intellectual but also one of the renowned scholar who made difference in the world. His views on caste and untouchability not only throws light on the neglected history of India which the right-wing traditionalists often fail to acknowledge, but also questions one's own conscience of how the long standing argument of religion bringing absolute morality to mankind can be nothing but a fallacy. A historian can distort his facts based on his self-interests, while Ambedkar derives his annotations and references from the very own doctrine of his religion (before his conversion to Buddhism) which his oppressor have always used to rationalize or vindicate the wrong-doings. His writings on caste and untouchability convinces us that, to perpetually claim that the superiority or inferiority of a human being depends solely on his birth is a more cruel than slavery.
His views on economic development and labour welfare are mere reflections of his social realism, in which he explains us that if a democracy has to be true democracy, equal opportunities should be given to everyone not only in politics, but in all spheres. Be it economic, social or political. His economic ideologies are not Marxian, but his essays on why the state should own most of the sectors of wealth production explains why Dr. Ambedkar was more inclined towards socialism, as he firmly believed and assertively wrote that the capitalism is the true enemy of labour classes. Yet, he was rational enough to understand that the sole dependence on Agriculture as a primary tool for income generation or economic development is a tomfoolery and he also argued why India needs to get industrialized as early as possible to overcome the issue of unemployment, hunger and income inequality.
Was it sensible to compare Marx with Buddha? Dr. Ambedkar takes a philosophical comparison rather from an economic standpoint. From his knowledge on Buddhism, he evaluates the value of democracy as preached by Buddha and dictatorship as a tool for communists of Marxian creed. Apart from violence or dictatorship as a method of achieving communism, Dr. Ambedkar appraise Buddhism and Communism as a common mode of achieving equity among human beings. Dr. Ambedkar believed in spirituality without religion, but as he found Buddhism to be compatible with his philosophy of liberty, equality and fraternity, he became an ardent Buddhist. Understanding the shortcomings of widely scattered and lost Buddhist literature, his ways to ensure a availability of single doctrine to Buddhism tells us why he was man of vision and foresight.
Dr. Ambedkar was a man of many thoughts. But his philosophy of life was based on one principle; that a man is equal to another man. And, any kind of oppression to him should be dealt with intellect and dialogue. Reading Ambedkar can seriously damage one's ignorance. And, that would be all the reason one 'should' read him.
As much as I find it as an injustice to select merely 500 pages and to leave out the rest of 17,500 pages of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's writings, these compilation of his essays on various topics are important from rest of his writings in its own aspects. Dr. Ambedkar was way different from rest of the leaders of contemporary times such as Tagore, Gandhi or Nehru because each one of them had a head start with access to education, social capital and other types of privilege bestowed upon them solely through their birth. While, Ambedkar had the unique distinction of springing from the dust.
Dr. Ambedkar's vast intellect on topics pertaining to anthology, anthropology, sociology, economics, theology, Sanskrit, polity, world history and constitutional studies not only made him a public intellectual but also one of the renowned scholar who made difference in the world. His views on caste and untouchability not only throws light on the neglected history of India which the right-wing traditionalists often fail to acknowledge, but also questions one's own conscience of how the long standing argument of religion bringing absolute morality to mankind can be nothing but a fallacy. A historian can distort his facts based on his self-interests, while Ambedkar derives his annotations and references from the very own doctrine of his religion (before his conversion to Buddhism) which his oppressor have always used to rationalize or vindicate the wrong-doings. His writings on caste and untouchability convinces us that, to perpetually claim that the superiority or inferiority of a human being depends solely on his birth is a more cruel than slavery.
His views on economic development and labour welfare are mere reflections of his social realism, in which he explains us that if a democracy has to be true democracy, equal opportunities should be given to everyone not only in politics, but in all spheres. Be it economic, social or political. His economic ideologies are not Marxian, but his essays on why the state should own most of the sectors of wealth production explains why Dr. Ambedkar was more inclined towards socialism, as he firmly believed and assertively wrote that the capitalism is the true enemy of labour classes. Yet, he was rational enough to understand that the sole dependence on Agriculture as a primary tool for income generation or economic development is a tomfoolery and he also argued why India needs to get industrialized as early as possible to overcome the issue of unemployment, hunger and income inequality.
Was it sensible to compare Marx with Buddha? Dr. Ambedkar takes a philosophical comparison rather from an economic standpoint. From his knowledge on Buddhism, he evaluates the value of democracy as preached by Buddha and dictatorship as a tool for communists of Marxian creed. Apart from violence or dictatorship as a method of achieving communism, Dr. Ambedkar appraise Buddhism and Communism as a common mode of achieving equity among human beings. Dr. Ambedkar believed in spirituality without religion, but as he found Buddhism to be compatible with his philosophy of liberty, equality and fraternity, he became an ardent Buddhist. Understanding the shortcomings of widely scattered and lost Buddhist literature, his ways to ensure a availability of single doctrine to Buddhism tells us why he was man of vision and foresight.
Dr. Ambedkar was a man of many thoughts. But his philosophy of life was based on one principle; that a man is equal to another man. And, any kind of oppression to him should be dealt with intellect and dialogue. Reading Ambedkar can seriously damage one's ignorance. And, that would be all the reason one 'should' read him.
April 23, 2020
Poorly organized. There's lack of chronological order which causes much confusion. For example after reading an article about Ambedkar's strong support for linguistic states, the next section is about his missives and contemplation regarding the same which could have written before the first one. Another example was about the two nation question. This happened throughout the book. 2.5/5
January 1, 2025
A well-edited and comprehensive Ambedkar reader for those wishing to learn more about Baba saheb’s philosophy. Great priming material for those raised outside of India who want to understand more about the historicity of India’s contemporary caste politics beyond Gandhi, who is skewered time and time again in Ambedkar’s writing.
December 25, 2019
Know Babasaheb...
Very informative book, want to know about babasaheeb read this book...you will find how visionary babasaheb was...analytically explain by Sir Bhalchandra Mungekar
Very informative book, want to know about babasaheeb read this book...you will find how visionary babasaheb was...analytically explain by Sir Bhalchandra Mungekar
October 14, 2022
there are parts of this book that are very interesting and insightful but if you're like me there's also segments you won't care about you can feel free to skip, but overall would probably recommend
November 7, 2024
This is a comprehensive book if one wants to know about how Dr. Ambedkar thought on various issues and wants to read all his thoughts in 1 place.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews