ABSTRACT
This chapter argues the moral implications. First it argues that the passage entails that animals have moral standing. Next it describes that the passage entails that animals have direct moral standing, in virtue of their sentience. Then it discusses that the passage also implies that animals have direct moral standing because they are alive, and because they are capable of varying degrees of health physical functioning, freedom from constraint, and so on. The chapter explores that the Anuasanaparvan of the Mahbhrata ascribes moral standing to animals. In a book currently under review (Environmental Ethics in Hindu Law, Literature, and Philosophy), It describes that certain Hindu texts and traditions, including the Anusanaparvan, claim that the direct moral standing of animals outweighs the direct moral standing of plants for a variety of reasons.
