Is it possible to escape a carat(^) out of a quoted variable?

Is it possible to escape a carat(^) out of a quoted variable?

I have a batch file I set up that is using a SQL command that is passed
into a command file. When I call this variable however, the line doesn't
show up. I receive a "SQL command not recognized error.
In my file I do something like this:
ECHO OFF set vSQL=%~2
echo %vSQL%
The sql variable I am passing to the file includes a greater than
operation: "select * from sometable where c3 < 999999999".
I tried adding the ^ to this: "...c3 ^< 999999999", but that still didn't
work. I get the same error. Is there another way to use < in a batch file?