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Posted
on 29-Aug-02 11:21 AM
A thoughtful paragraph from 'My picture of free India' by Mahatma Gandhi
"All Men(and women) are Equal
In my opinion, there is no such thing as interherited or acquired superiority. I believe in the rock-bottom doctrine of Advaita, and my interpretation of Advaita excludes totally any idea of superiority at any stage whatsoever. I believe implicitly that all men are born equal. All-- whether born in India or in England or America or in any circumstances whatsoever -- have the same soul as any other. I consider that it is unmanly for any person to amplest warrant for the belief that I am enunciating in the Bhagavad Gita, and I am, therefore, through and through with every non-Brahmin when he fights his monster of superiority, where it is claimed by a Brahmin or anybody else. He who claims superiority, at once forfeits the claim to be a man.
Men are equal. For, though they are not of the same age, the same height, the same skin, and the same intellect, these inequalities are temporary and superficial; the soul that is hidden beneath this earthy crust is one and the same for all mean and women belonging to all climes......The word 'inequality' has a bad odour about it, and it had led to arrogance and inhumanities, both in the east and the west."
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