Ambedkar's Ideal of Maitri

Babasaheb's universalist vision of the community based on maitri enriches the political imagination everywhere

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DURING a stay at Shravasti, the Buddha asked the bhikkus, “Suppose a man is preparing to dig the earth. Does the earth resent him?” “No,” the bhikkus replied. “Suppose a man wishes to paint pictures in the air using lac and colour. Will he be able to do it?” “No, he can’t.” “Why not?” “Because the air has no dark patches.” “Your minds also shouldn’t have dark patches. They reflect evil passions. Suppose a man tries to set the Ganges on fire with a strip of burning fern. Will he succeed?” “No.” “Why not?” “Because the water in the Ganges is not inflammable.” “Just as the earth is not resentful, just as the air does not lend itself to any action against it, just as the River Ganges keeps flowing without letting the fire disturb it, bhikkus like yourselves must bear the insults and injustices done to you without letting them affect your maitri towards the offenders. It is your sacred obligation to keep your mind as firm as the earth, as clean as the air and as deep as the Ganges. No action will then be able to disturb your maitri. Those who hurt you will then soon become tired. Let your maitri be boundless and your thought vast and beyond feeling any hatred. According to my dhamma, practising karuna is not enough. It is essential to practise maitri alongside.”

In the Buddha’s advice to the monks, maitri ought to become intrinsic to human nature. Its presence in them should stay constant, like the unchanging substance of wind, earth and water. Whatever their opponents might do to them, the