Buddhist Counter Traditions to Modern Emancipatory Thoughts
Mr. Akash Sanjay Khobragade
PhD Research Scholar
Department of Sociology
Delhi University
Abstract
The renewed emphasis on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) in contemporary academic and policy discourse often presents Indian civilization as a unified, harmonious, and continuous intellectual tradition. However, such representations tend to foreground Brahmanical epistemologies while marginalizing the knowledge traditions and lived experiences of historically oppressed communities, particularly Dalits. This paper critically examines the relationship between Indian knowledge systems and Dalit emancipation by situating Brahmanical and Buddhist traditions within their historical contexts. It argues that Brahmanical knowledge systems functioned as instruments of caste domination and social exclusion, while Buddhism offered an alternative ethical and philosophical framework rooted in equality and rationality. The paper further contends that meaningful Dalit emancipation became historically possible only with the advent of modern knowledge during the colonial period, which was creatively appropriated and transformed by thinkers such as Jotiba Phule and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. By integrating modern rationality, constitutionalism, and ethical humanism with a critical engagement with India’s past, Phule and Ambedkar developed an emancipatory epistemology that challenged both colonial domination and indigenous caste oppression. The paper concludes by arguing that any contemporary discourse on Indian Knowledge Systems must be re-conceptualized from the standpoint of social justice and Dalit emancipation.
Keywords: Indian Knowledge Systems, Dalit Emancipation, Buddhism, Brahmanical Tradition, Modernity, Jotiba Phule, B. R. Ambedkar
DOI link – https://doi.org/10.69758/GIMRJ/2601S01V14P007
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