If, practically, the world wants classless society, then one has to take this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Then there will be classless society. We have got in our Society boys and girls from various parts of the world. There are Africans, there are Indians, there are Canadians, Englishmen, American, Australian, but they have forgotten that he is Englishman or American or Australian or black or white or Indian. No. They have forgotten. They are simply interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. This is the importance of the movement. If you want classless society, actually pure, without any contamination of these material modes of nature, then this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the prime movement.
That is the definition of Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement: sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam, hṛṣīkeṇa (CC Madhya 19.170), ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā (CC Madhya 19.167). Bhakti, devotional service, first-class devotional service, can be achieved when one is freed from all designation. So long one feels designated, that "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am Englishman," "I am German," "I am black," "I am white," and . . . no. You have to feel yourself. Not feeling; practically training that, "I am spirit soul. I am eternal part and parcel of the Supreme Lord." When you come to this position, this is called sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam, freed from all designation.
These are, the bodily identification, is designation. Just like you are sitting here, so many boys and girls in different dress. Some is dressed in black coat or some in white coat or red coat. If I ask you what you are, if you say, "I am black coat," or somebody says: "I am white coat," that is not your identification. Similarly, we living entities, we are neither American nor Indian nor African nor Englishman. We are all spirit soul. That is our position. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. This is perfect knowledge. Ahaṁ brahmāsmi, "I am spirit soul." When you come to this understanding, ahaṁ brahmāsmi, sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam, then your position will be different from this material understanding. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54).
Prasannātmā means jubilant. You'll find all our boys and girls, they're always jubilant. Unless they are jubilant, they cannot dance in this way. It is not dancing dogs. They are not dancing dogs. They're feeling jubilant, and therefore they are dancing. This is the position of brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā. Prasannātmā, unless one is very satisfied, he cannot be jubilant. He should be morose. He cannot dance, he cannot chant. That's a fact.
So this is sign of brahma-bhūtaḥ: without any material designation. Brahma-bhūtaḥ. Everything is there in the Bhagavad-gītā. If you study carefully you'll understand everything. Brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati. How one is jubilant? When one is freed from all anxieties. What are these anxieties? Anxieties mean if I lose something, then I will lament, and if I haven't got anything, something, then I hanker after it.
So far we are concerned, we have no business, we have no profession. We do not know what we shall eat tomorrow, or in the evening. We are in such a position. But we have no anxiety. You can see practically. We have no anxiety that, "What shall I eat in the evening? What shall I eat tomorrow? There is no bank balance. There is no money." No. There is no anxiety. We know certain that as soon as we go, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa will send us everything. That is actually a fact. If you study our activities, you'll see practically it is so. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati. We have no hankering, no lamentation. Suppose you have got thousand dollars, and somebody takes away. It happens so. Somebody comes, mixes with us and takes away some money. So we are not very much sorry for that. We think: Kṛṣṇa gave us, and Kṛṣṇa has taken away. It doesn't matter. Na śocati na kāṅkṣati.
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."
So because he saw a saintly person, he got his sense. He asked him that, "How I can get rid of this sinful life?" So Nārada Muni suggested that, "I shall give you the way how you can become free from this sinful life." So he made him a disciple and asked him to chant this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and sit down on the bank of the Ganges, and the hunter said: "Sir, where shall I get my food?" Nārada Muni said: "I'll send you, don't bother. I'll send you food." So the village people, when they understood that the hunter has become a saintly person, so everyone used to come and see him. Somebody was bringing some rice, somebody wheat, somebody some sweets, some fruits, some flower. So huge quantity of foodstuff was coming. So in this way, he became a perfect saintly Vaiṣṇava.
Later on, when Nārada Muni came to see him, he was coming to receive the spiritual master, jumping over the road. So when the hunter, now he became Vaiṣṇava, so Nārada Muni and his friend Parvata Muni asked, "Why you are jumping?" He said: "Sir, there are so many ants, so I was trying to save their life." The same hunter who was killing animals one time half-dead and was enjoying is no more interested to kill even an ant. This is called saintly life. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu (BG 18.54). Samaḥ, equal to all living entities. Not that simply protection should be given to the human being.