The bitterness of his mind was ever on the increase. In spite of it, he was not willing to embrace the Christian or the Muslim faith.

Finally, Ambedkar decided to become a Buddhist.

This was a great decision in his life, a decision taken after deep thought.

Why did he choose Buddhism?

Ambedkar told his friend Dattopant Thengadi: " I am in the evening of my life. There is an onslaught of ideas on our people from different countries from the four corners of the world. In this flood our people may be confused. There are strong attempts to separate the people struggling hard, from the main life-stream of this country and to attract them towards other countries. This tendency is fast growing. Even some of my colleagues who are disgusted with ‘untouchability’, proverty and inequality are ready to be washed away by this flood. What about the others? They should not move away from the main stream of the nation’s life; and I must show them the way. At the same time, we have to make some changes in the economic and political life. That is way I have decided to follow Buddhism."

There is a way of life which has come down as a steady stream in India for thousand of years. Buddhism is not opposed to it. The backward people must rebel against the injustice done to them; they must wipe it out. But ‘untouchability’ is a problem of the Hindu Scoiety. To solve this, a path which does not harm the culture and the history of Bharat must be followed. This is the basis of his resolution.

He did not believe in the theory that Aryans came from a different land and that they defeated the Dasyus’ (the Dravidians) of this country. There is no foundation for this in the Vedas. The word ‘Arya’ appears some 33 or 34 times in the Vedas. The word has been used as an adjective meaning ‘the noble’ or ‘the elder’. It is said in the Mahabharata that ‘Dasyus’ can be found in all ‘varnas’ (castes) and‘ashramas’ (stage of life). In this way Ambedkar used to support this view.