Gandhi’s defense of varnashrama dharma prompted Ambedkar’s 1937 expansion.

Evidence

In AoC 1936, after “serve”, it reads “—all this sounds very simple and appears to be perfect. But what does it all come to in practice? It means the pauperisation of the many for the sake of the few. It means the disarming of the many for the sake of the few. It means the deadening and darkening of the lives of the many in order that the few may have life and light. As has been observed, there is no country in the world which has suffered so much as a result of social evils of its own creation as India.” Ambedkar drops this passage in AoC 1937, and in its place offers an extended reflection—of 650 words—on the exploitative and illogical nature of the chaturvarnya system. This appears to be triggered by Gandhi’s response to this speech-essay in Harijan, where he upholds the fourfold varnashrama dharma but denounces the proliferation of castes. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1122

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

Related

• Gandhi’s views on varna shifted to near-abandonment by the mid-1940s. (similarity 0.82)
• Gandhi defended an idealized varna system his entire life while criticizing caste (similarity 0.81)
• Early Ambedkar valued Gandhi’s sympathy while later rejecting his approach (similarity 0.81)
• Gandhi defended varnashrama as wholesome and opposed intermarriage until the mid-1920s (similarity 0.81)
• Ambedkar’s anti-Hindu section doomed his address even before it was delivered (similarity 0.80)
• The Mandal wanted Ambedkar to join its reform struggle rather than exit Hinduism (similarity 0.80)
• Gandhi’s moral authority made his word effectively unanswerable to many Hindus. (similarity 0.80)
• Gandhi consistently defended an idealized varna system all his life. (similarity 0.79)
• Even a radical Hindu reform group cancelled Ambedkar over his anti-Shastra stance (similarity 0.79)
• The Mandal withdrew its invitation before Ambedkar delivered the speech (similarity 0.79)
• Ambedkar’s anti-caste speech sold out swiftly across India in 1937. (similarity 0.78)
• Hinduism’s pervasiveness makes renouncing caste seem impracticable to many (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The Jat-Pat Todak Mandal cancelled its conference because Ambedkar’s prepared address was unacceptable. #complicates (0.50) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1192