Prabhupada is speaking with Cardinal Danielou
Yogesvara was really excited about Prabhupada speaking to this cardinal, and he was playing it for us. I was interested, and so he starts the tape and Prabhupada is speaking with Cardinal Danielou and we're listening. There's translation and you're getting the gist of it, and it seems like two elderly gentlemen that seem to be equally dignified exchanging ideas about spiritual life.
It's kind of vague, but I got the gist of that and it flows. All of a sudden out of the blue Prabhupada says, "What about the animals?" Even today, without a doubt, even today I get chills when I think of that because I said, "What?" And Prabhupada says, "What about the animals?" and he goes into a whole thing about the animals. And the cardinal says the same thing that the bishop had said to me years before, "Well, the animals don't have a soul," and he makes all these justifications, "You need the meat to eat, and it's more important to feed people."
Prabhupada answers one question after another, and the cardinal persists. It seems to be almost like a, I won't say a battle, but Prabhupada is very persistent, he won't let him off the hook. Finally he brings up the analogy of if a man has two children and one child has diminished capacity, does he love the one that's not so intelligent less than the one that's qualified?
And of course the animals have a soul. It never fails to move me. All of a sudden I felt this real clear understanding, almost like a voice, "Yes, this man is My servant. Yes, this man will answer your questions. He will answer the questions you forgot you had and the questions you haven't even thought of yet." It was so clear that I was stunned. So I didn't have a doubt. I've had lots of ups and downs and I never had a lot of association with Prabhupada, but I just felt that Krishna had answered that request. I had had that simple request, "I would like to know."
Reference: Following Srila Prabhupada-A Chronological Series by Kanti Dasi
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