Every man should have a philosophy of life, for everyone must have a standard by which to measure his conduct. And philosophy is nothing but a standard by which to measure. Negatively, I reject the Hindu Social Philosophy propounded in the Bhagvat Geeta based as it is, on the Triguna of the Sankhya philosophy, which is, in my judgement, a cruel perversion of the philosophy of Kapila, and which had made the Caste System and the System of Graded Inequality the Law of Hindu Social Life. Positively, my Social Philosophy may be said to be enshrined in three words: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Let no one say that I have borrowed my philosophy from the French Revolution. I have not. My philosophy has roots in religion and not in political science. I have derived them from the teachings of my Master, the Buddha. In his philosophy, liberty and equality had a place. He added that unlimited liberty destroyed equality, and absolute equality left no room for liberty. In His Philosophy, Law had a place only as a safeguard against breaches of liberty and equality.
However, He did not believe that Law could be a guarantee for breaches of liberty or equality. He gave the highest place to the fraternity as the only real safeguard against the denial of liberty or equality or fraternity, which was another name for brotherhood or humanity, which was again another name for religion; Law is secular, which anybody may break while fraternity or religion is sacred which everybody must respect. My philosophy has a mission. I have to do the conversion work, for I have to make the followers of Triguna theory give it up and accept mine. Indians today are governed by two different ideologies. Their political ideal in the Preamble to the Constitution affirms a life of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Their social ideal embodied in their religion denies them.
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings & Speeches Vol. 17 Part 3
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