Editor’s Note: America & India are often called natural allies. The truth actually goes deeper. The foundational axioms of American & Indian Society are very similar. That is because founders of both societies were people with unparalleled & noble humanistic vision. Today, on India’s 69th Independence Day, we bring to our readers a great example of this American-India foundational congruence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” – with these words begins the United States Declaration of Independence. These words are hailed all over the world as a symbol of illuminated modern thought, a beacon of light for the entire world, a way out of the swamp of clannish, ethnic, and social conflicts. These foundational values have made America great and kept her great through the past 240 years. This everybody knows.
But very few people know that the above axiom is not American in origin or that the axiom was stated more elaborately in Indian Dhaarmic Thought that was composed at the beginning of known history.
Read the Sixth Verse of the Isa-UpaNiSad:
यः तु सर्वाणि भूतानि आत्मन् एव अनुपश्यति (Yah Tu Sarvaani Bhutaani Aatman Ev Anupashyati)
सर्व भूतेषु च आत्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते (Sarva Bhuteshu cha Aatmaanam Tato Na Vijugupsate)
One who sees All Beings in One’s Self & One’s Self in All Beings,
[that One] is not recoiled/repelled [by any being].
This verse, frankly, goes much farther than the words in the American Declaration of Independence. Not only does the verse clearly state that all human beings (not just men) are the same (not just equal), but it goes further and states that this realization of “sameness” is the key to removing revulsion at clannish, ethnic & color-based differences between humans.
The seventh verse of the Isa-UpaNiSad takes this a step further by describing the ideal condition:
यस्मिन् सर्वाणि भूतानि आत्मैवाभूत (Yasmin Sarvaani AatmaiyevaBhut)
Where All Beings are Unified in One’s Self
The above verses are foundational axioms of Indian Dharma and enunciated in one of the most important UpaNiSads – Dhaarmic treatises that reveal & teach the fundamentals of Indian Philosophical & Religious Thought. Their revelation or creation goes back to the beginning of human thought as we know it.
These axioms did not remain in ancient texts; they were re-enunciated and re-taught through out the past 4,000 + years by Indian Saints, Poets, & Reformers of which Mahatma Gandhi is the most widely known.
With foundational axioms so similar & congruent, is it any surprise that India & USA should be natural allies?
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[Typo corrected]
The “All Men Are Created Equal” is an Euro Enlightenment based conceit, become an Universalistic ideal for “humanity”. The corollary that follows in practice, as evident from past few centuries of west dominated history, is that western (US) institutional might is deployed to “remove inequality” from the “other benighted” cultures, while excusing one’s own, or at least not letting others come in & meddle, based on their own Universal ideals …. So, thanks for pointng the Upanishadic ideal, which is far more nuanced, & frankly, is based on a different set of presupmtions on the nature of life (Samkhya / Vedanta, etc …)
with respect;we disagree;”All men are created equal” is indeed a noble humanistic vision;Founding fathers of America left Europe that was beset with national/class/religious conflicts; horrible conflicts. US Founding Fathers were explicit in rejecting that horror & mindset & hence the basic declaration. The key is “All” and will be discussed in Part II of the article.
Your statement “That is because founders of both societies were people with unparalleled & noble humanistic vision” is factually incorrect. The white Europeans who came to America not only committed ‘genocide’ of the original people, ‘American Indians’ and grab their sacred land but also supported and practiced slavery of black people of the worst kind for several centuries. Even after the declaration of Independence, the slavery in America continued to be pracitced for a long time. Whereas the Indians did never practice slavery nor did they go out to subjugate other people and grab their land. On the contrary, the Hindus welcomed the persecuted Christians, Jews, Muslims, & Parsees and allowed them to practice their religions following the Dharmic philosophy you have quoted in the Isa-Upnisad. Of course, for their Dharmic noble gesture, they paid a heavy price. The two predatory religious communities, Christians and Muslims stabbed the Hindus in the back and enslaved them for near 1000 years.
In my humble opinion, in today’s world as exists, the practice of the Dharmic philosophy as propounded in the Upnishadas is not workable and also is not advisable. The US govt. from its inception has followed the policy of ‘Gun boat diplomacy’ and still continues to do it. Therefore, to say that USA and India are natural allies is to say ‘cats and dogs’ are the same. Even at this stage, the American foreign policy is oriented to destabilize India from within and eventually Balkanized it so that America remains the supreme power. Of course, for politcal expediency and to have favorable relationship with America, it could be used as a diplomatic tool but the Indians must understand that America is no friend of India or for that matter any other country. America would do anything to maintain its hegemony in the world including using its nuclear weapons irrespective of its consequences.
with respect; you are wrong; Founders of both societies were people with unparalleled humanistic vision. The key is “All” and that determined implementation; That is a discussion for Part II which includes the behavior of Hindus for the past 1,000 years. Finally, America is not a friend of India and neither is India a friend of America. Countries have interests & countries become friends when interests are congruent & non-friends when they don’t.This is basic Chanakya. But more in Part II of the article