The quotation “all men are created equal” is part of the sentence in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which Thomas Jefferson penned in 1776 during the beginning of the American Revolution.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau famously claimed that all men are born equal and free.

Immanuel Kant argued that we ought to treat all human beings as ‘ends in themselves’—as free, rational beings equally worthy of dignity and respect.

IT is no doubt that Jefferson, Kant and Rousseau were great souls(all kudos to them) who have greatly contributed to the upliftment of humankind. BUT, most of us have conveniently forgotten the noble concept of “EQUALITY” enshrined through out Bhagawat Gita. In this article I will try to list the several verses of Lord which emphasize on the noble concept of equality.

Chapter 2, Verse 18 and Verse 20 – In these Verses Lord says “the Soul (who is the true representation of a Jiva) is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He also says that material body is destructible and comes to an end”. In nutshell, HE intends through say, the Soul pure and the difference between Jivas is material and a cloth(body) enveloping the Soul.

Chapter 4, Verses 10-12 – In these verses Lord says: “being free from fear, anger, being fully absorbed in ME, one gets purified in knowledge. As they surrender upon ME, I reward them equally“. In nutshell, in order to be elevated a Jiva needs to give up the material bindings, and whoever cuts the bindings gets closer to Lord, irrespective of birth, family, religion and lineage.

Chapter 4, Verse 13: Lord says “According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me”. This exactly matches to what Rousseau says “All men are born equal but virtues make them different“.

Chapter 5, Verse 7: Lord says: “One who works being “yogayukta”, who is a pure soul, controls his minds and senses is very dear to me. One who is beyond the basic instincts of a Jiva is very near to Me.” This means one who is free from ego, sense of superiority over any living being is not close to Lord.

Chapter 5, Verse18: Lord says: “The truly learned, with the eyes of divine knowledge, see with equal vision a Brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and a dog-eater.” That means the person who differentiates between living beings is surely less learned.

Chapter 7, Verse 17: Lord says: “Of these, one who is in full knowledge and who is engaged in pure Bhakti is the best. For I am very near to him, and he is very near to Me”. You need not be a part of lineage, citizen of a country, possess so much money to be dear to Lord.

Chapter 7, Verse 18: Lord Says “One who is situated in knowledge is very dear to me and I consider him as my own self“. Knowledge of the atma (spirit soul) is important to be close to the Lord.

Chapter 13, Verse 28: The Lord says “One who sees the Supersoul (Param Brahma) accompanying the Soul in all bodies actually sees“. Here Lord emphasizes that an elevated person sees all equal. And the converse, who sees difference among the Jivas is not elevated.

Chapter 15, Verse 15: Lord says “I am seated in everyone’s heart, from me comes reembrace, knowledge and forgetfulness“. Every Jiva is Godly.

Looking at all the above verses, concept of equality was present long back in Hinduism. But we all conveniently forgot it.

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