A town in the state of Hyderabad (Imperial Gazetteer) that is associated with stories of the life of Jnyandeo. Here's a brief retelling of the one to which Dr. Ambedkar refers:
The story is attributed to Namdev. The oldest manuscript that records this story is from 1631 CE. It is hugely popular. What happens in the story is that Jnandev's father and mother take sannyasi status and give up their caste status as Brahmins. They go on pilgrimage to Kashi. But when they start having children, they realize that their children need to be part of society, and thus need caste status. So they make an appeal to a Brahmin council in Paithan on behalf of their four children: Jnandev, Nivriti, Sopan, and Muktabai. At first the council refuses, but two things convince them. The first is that Jnandev's parents say they'll commit ritual suicide by jumping into the river (sometimes Ganges in Kashi, sometimes Indrayini at Alandi) to atone for giving up their caste earlier. The second is the more famous, and somewhat goes against Ambedkar's reading: Jnandev gets a buffalo to recite the Vedas. The emphasis here is that a dumb animal can recite the Vedas, and thus have a kind of nominal Brahminical status, so the Paithan council, and caste in general, is ridiculous. (—Note by Professor Christian Novetzke, University of Pennsylvania)
Annotation by: Pritchett