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The significance of Dr Ambedkar's life and work is exceptionally profound and far-reaching. 

How to uplift his people? This was the great problem that he faced. How to uplift them socially, economically, educationally, in all respects?  

He felt that they could be uplifted only through a change of religion. He felt it was not enough just to leave Hinduism, not just enough to give up the caste system - they had to find another, better, religion. Ambedkar, himself a deeply religious man, believed that religion was essential to human life.

He therefore inaugurated what we now call '"The Dhamma Revolution", not just  change of religion, but a transformation of one's whole life in every aspect, not just individual transformation, but collective transformation as well.

For Dr. Ambedkar, Buddhism was the answer to his own spiritual needs. It was also a way in which Dalits could gain a new sense of dignity and self-worth. Buddhism teaches that every individual has the potential for spiritual growth, regardless of birth or background. Indeed, everyone can become a Buddha, an awakened one, the embodiment of wisdom and compassion. This radical vision of the worth of each human being has helped to transform the lives of millions. 

Dr Ambedkar's vision went much further. He believed that if
many Indian citizens could embrace a moral and spiritual perspective such as that found in  Buddhism, India could become a truly equal society. For him Buddhism was the route to a casteless India. In October 1956, he and half a million of his followers therefore became Buddhists, thus bringing about the renaissance of Buddhism in India and initiating a religious and social revolution of major significance.

 
“Buddhism alone among the world’s religions is compatible with the ethical and rational demands of contemporary life.”

 

Sources:  “Ambedkar and Buddhism” by Sangharakshita, pp. 1-12, Windhorse Publications; Tape 183: Great Buddhists of the 20th  Century - Sangharakshita;  “The Great Conversion: Dr. Ambedkar and the Buddhist Revival in India” (p. 63) Tricycle Spring 1993 by Christopher Queen; "India- A New Beginning" by Lokamitra's FWBO newsletter, 1978.