Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu (BG 18.54). Equal to all living entities. Our philosophy is not like that, that we give protection to the human being and send the cows to the slaughterhouse. No. That is not our philosophy. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu. We think on this subject matter that if a man is killed, as he's put into so difficult position for being killed, the animal also. They also feel. It is nonsense to think that animal has no soul. No. Everyone has got soul. There are 8,400,000 species, or forms of life. Everyone has got soul. Even the ant has got soul or the elephant has got soul, what to speak of other animals. Everyone, even the trees, birds, beasts, plants, everyone has got soul. And in the Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says:
- sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya
- sambhavanti mūrtayaḥ yāḥ
- tāsāṁ mahad yonir brahma
- ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā
- (BG 14.4)
The part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa, or God, the soul, is there everywhere. Don't think that simply human being has got soul. This is not very good philosophy, that the animals have no soul. They have got soul. You can practically examine. What is the symptom of possessing soul? First of all try to understand. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā: avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam (BG 2.17). The presence of soul can be perceived when there is consciousness on the body. This is the proof.
When you pinch my body, I feel pain; when I pinch your body, you feel pain; when I pinch an animal's body, he also feels pain. Even I pinch even the tree's body, he feels pain. It is scientifically proved. Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose has proved by machine that when you cut a tree, it feels pain and it is recorded in this statistic machine. So everyone has got the soul. So how you can think . . .? When you take the animal to the slaughterhouse for killing, he cries. Why? Because he's feeling pain. He knows that, "I'm going to be killed." So there is soul.
So soul is there. You don't think that soul is not there. Soul is there. Therefore, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person who has realized God, he is samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu, he's equal to all living entities. He'll feel pain even for cutting a tree. He'll pain feel . . . he'll feel pain even he traverse over an ant. There is a story that one hunter, he was killing in the forest all kinds of animals, and he was killing them half. So they were suffering too much severe pain. So Nārada Muni was going in that way. He saw that "These animals have been half killed, and they are so much suffering. Who is doing that?"
So he searched out the hunter. He requested, "Sir, you are killing the animals. Why don't you kill them all at a time? Why you are killing half? They are suffering. You'll have to suffer in that way." The hunter did not know that killing animals is sinful and he has to suffer again. So he said: "Sir, I am trained like this by my father. This is my profession. I do not know what is sin. But this is the first time I am hearing from you that killing this animal, especially in this way, is very much sinful."