Problem—Contemporary physics offers no underlying reason for the equi valence of inertial and gravitational mass. Approach—The equivalence is examined from the new physics provided by the cordus theory, being a non-local hidden-variable (NLHV) theory. Mathematical formalisms are de rived for masses and observers in different fabric densities. Findings—A dis jointed equivalence is predicted, whereby inertial and gravitational masses are equivalent in any one situation, but a different equivalence holds when the fabric densities change. Consequently this theory predicts that the gravita tional constant G varies with fabric density, and hence would be different across the universe and across time. Not only is the gravitational constant non-constant, but the formulation of gravitation changes with fabric density. Specifically, the theory predicts gravity is stronger at genesis (and the end of the universe) such that orbit velocity B B v r ∝ (where Br is orbit radius), compared to weaker gravitation at middle life epochs with 1 B B v r ∝ . The current Earth location and epoch correspond to the latter case, i.e. Newtonian gravitation is recovered. The findings disfavour the existence of both dark energy and dark matter, and instead attribute these effects to differences in the fabric density. Originality—The work makes the contribution of deriving a mass equivalence relationship that includes fabric density, identifying a dis jointed mass equivalence, and showing that the gravitation formulation itself changes with relative fabric densities.