Choosing Human and Animal Lives
9
opinion that the species are evolving from lower forms of life, but this is not the whole truth. The soul may progress from lower forms to higher forms, but in the beginning of creation all species were created by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as indicated in  Bhagavad-gītā .
sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya 
    prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām 
    kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni 
    kalpādau viṣṛjāmy aham 
    prakṛtiṁ svām avaṣṭabhya 
    viṣṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ 
    bhūta-grāmam imaṁ kṛtsnam 
    avaśaṁ prakṛter vaśāt
“O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium every material manifestation enters unto My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency I again create. The whole cosmic order is under Me. By My will is it manifested again and again, and by My will is it annihilated at the end.” (Bg. 9.7,8)
All of these living entities are subject to the three-fold miseries, including those miseries pertaining to the body and mind. Animals cannot understand that they are suffering, but human beings can. One who does not know that he is suffering is in animal consciousness. Animals may be standing behind a fence to be slaughtered, but they do not understand this. As human beings, we should be cognizant that we are suffering the pains of birth, old age, disease and death and should be inquisitive to know how to avoid these miseries. We have been suffering from