of the best translation work today is being done by women, and the
evidence provided about what ‘Brahmanism’ was actually saying
shows why women were forbidden to read the Vedas!
Finally, I owe thanks to the cultural activists of Maharashtra, in
the Dalit, Adivasi and rural cultural movements, the Vidrohi cultural
movement, and all the national and international truth-seekers or
satyashodhaks. Hopefully this book will take forward their work.were originally in vernacular languages. For Brahmanical Sanskrit
terms I have used their equivalent in the spelling that most educated
Indians are familiar with—Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna. This may still
do injustice to the genuinely and widely used forms of most Indian
languages. For example, I have to apologise to my Dalit-Bahujan
friends for the continual spelling of ‘Brahman’ when the pronunci-
ation from the time of Pali and the known ‘Prakrits’ up through to
the languages of almost all of India today is ‘Bahman’, ‘Baaman’,
‘Paapan’ and so forth.
I owe thanks to many friends and scholars for help during this
study. To G. Aloysius, one of the pioneer writers on the revival of
Buddhism in India; to Uma Chakravarty, one of the first to argue
that Pali texts are an unparalleled source for the study of early
India, that they represented a more realistic depiction of society
than that of Vedic, shastric and other Sanskrit literature. To Sharad
Patil for interpretations of early Indian society that have brought
forward the role of varna/jati and matrilineal (stri-sattak) tendencies
and for his attempt to evolve a new ‘Marxist–Phule–Ambedkarite’
methodology. To Bharat Patankar, for providing not only moral
and intellectual stimulation and support but also a grounding in
Marathi and especially Marathi Bahujan culture. To Eleanor Zelliot,
not only a mother figure for so many who are working on Ambedkar
and the Dalit and bhakti movements, but also a never-ending source
of new insights. To Kancha Ilaiah, one of the first from among the
other backward classes (OBCs) to be clear that he is not a Hindu, and
who has formulated a ‘Dalit Bahujan’ perspective for activism and
scholarship with his work on Buddhism and political philosophy. To
Lokamitra and other committed Buddhists who have supported this
work of enquiry. To activists of the Buddhist Circle, especially
Mangesh Dahiwale, Mahesh Sagar and Sakya Ummanathan, who
have been helpful in providing material, debating issues and framing
questions.
For commenting on parts of the text, I thank Yoginder Sikand,
Valerie Roebuck, the Buddhist Circle and others. I owe thanks to the
translators of the many texts I have used, from the earliest transla-
tors of Pali texts, to scholars working on the early modern bhakti
movements, to Sanskrit and Pali texts today. These include Wendy
Doniger (O’Flaherty), John Hawley, Linda Hess, Charlotte Vaudeville,
Eleanor Zelliot, Valerie Roebuck, as well as Shalom and Thanissaro
Bhiku whose works can be found on the internet. Remarkably, most
xii Buddhism in India Preface xiii