Vol. 11 · pages 266–270

PART IV What is Not—Dhamma 1. Belief in the Supernatural is Not—Dhamma. 2. Belief in Ishwara (God) is Not Essentially Part of Dhamma. 3. Dhamma Based on Union with Brahma is a False Dhamma. 4. Belief in Soul is Not—Dhamma. 5. Belief in Sacrifices is Not—Dhamma. 6. Belief Based on Speculation is Not—Dhamma. 7. Reading Books of Dhamma is Not—Dhamma. 8. Belief in the Infallibility of Books of Dhamma is Not— Dhamma.

249 WHAT IS NOT—DHAMMA III § 1. Belief in the Supernatural is Not— Dhamma 1. Whenever any phenomenon occurs, humanity is always wanting to know how it has happened, what is the cause of it. 2. Sometimes cause and the effect are so proximate and so close that it is not difficult to account for the occurrence of the event. 3. But often-times the effect is so far away from the cause for the effect is not accountable. Apparently there appears to be no cause for it. 4. Then the question arises: How has this event occurred ? 5. The commonest answer is that the occurrence of the event is due to some supernatural cause which is often called a miracle. 6. The Buddha’s predecessors gave very different answers to this question. 7. Pakauda Katyana denied that there was a cause for every event. Events, he said, occurred independently. 8. Makhali Ghosal admitted that an event must have a cause. But he preached that the cause is not to be found in human agency but is to be sought in nature, necessity, inherent laws of things, predestination or the like. 9. The Buddha repelled these doctrines. He maintained that not only every event has a cause but the cause is the result of some human action or natural law. 10. His contention against the doctrine of Time, Nature, Necessity, etc., being the cause of the occurrence of an event, was this. 11. If Time, Nature, Necessity, etc., be the sole cause of the occurrence of an event, then who are we ? 12. Is man merely a puppet in the hands of Time, Nature, Chance, Gods, Fate, Necessity ? 13. What is the use of man’s existence if he is not free ? What is the use of man’s intelligence if he continues to believe in supernatural causes ?

250 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES III 14. If man is free, then every event must be the result of man’s action or of an act of Nature. There cannot be any event which is supernatural in its origin. 15. It may be that man is not able to discover the real cause of the occurrence of an event. But if he has intelligence he is bound one day to discover it. 16. In repudiating supernaturalism the Buddha had three objects. 17. His first object was to lead man to the path of rationalism. 18. His second object was to free man to go in search of truth. 19. His third object was to remove the most potent source of superstition, the result of which is to kill the spirit of inquiry. 20. This is called the law of Kamma or Causation. 21. This doctrine of Kamma and Causation is the most central doctrine in Buddhism. It preaches Rationalism and Buddhism is nothing if not rationalism. 22. That is why worship of the supernatural is Not—Dhamma. § 2. Belief in Ishwara (God) is Not Essentially Part of Dhamma 1. Who created the world is a common question. That the world was created by God is also a very. common answer. 2. In the Brahmanic scheme this God is called by a variety of names—Prajapati, Ishwar, Brahma or Maha Brahma. 3. To the question who this God is and how He came into being there is no answer. 4. Those who believe in God describe Him as a being who is omnipotent, i.e., all-powerful, Omnipresent, i.e., he fills the whole universe, and Omniscient, i.e., he knows everything.

251 WHAT IS NOT—DHAMMA III 5. There are also certain moral qualities which are attributed to God. God is said to be good, God is said to be just and God is said to be all-loving. 6. The question is did the Blessed Lord accept God as the creator of the universe. 7. The answer is, “No.” He did not. 8. There are various grounds why he rejected the doctrine of the Existence of God. 9. Nobody has seen God. People only speak of God. 10. God is unknown and unseen. 11. Nobody can prove that God has created the world. The world has evolved and is not created. 12. What advantage can there be in believing in God ? It is unprofitable. 13. The Buddha said that a religion based on God is based on speculation. 14. A religion based on God is, therefore, not worth having. 15. It only ends in creating superstition. 16. The Buddha did not leave the question there. He discussed the question in its various aspects. 17. The grounds on which he rejected the doctrine were various. 18. He argued that the doctrine of the Existence of God is not based on truth. 19. This he made clear in his dialogue with the two Brahmins, Vasettha and Bhardvaja. 20. Now a dispute arose between them as to which was the true path of salvation and which false. 21. About the time the Blessed One was journeying through Kosala with a great company of the brethren he happened to halt at the Brahmin village called Manaskata and stayed in the mango grove on the bank of the river Akiravati. 22. Manaskata was the town in which Vasettha and Bhardvaja lived. Having heard that the Blessed Lord was staying in their town, they went to him and each one put forth his point of view. 23. Bhardvaja said : “The path of Tarukkha is the straight path, this is the direct way which makes