The Problem of Karma in B. R. Ambedkar’s Buddhism

Where most other Buddhist modernist movements enjoy state support or sanction of some kind and often long histories of monastic organization as well as reception by Euro-American elites, B. R. Ambedkar’s marginal position necessarily produces a Buddhist modernist expression distinct in values and aims from non-marginal arrangements. His Buddhist modernism shares the individualist, rational, scientifically compatible frames found in many other modernist Buddhist iterations. But Ambedkar replaces the romantic and psychospiritual orientations of Euro-American frames with ethical and justice discourses in his reading of karma. This discussion of karma further unsettles any moves towards a hegemonic definition of this South Asian concept.