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xii                                                  Preface

          (especially the leaders) the long overdue “fifty percent” of
          Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission: establishing varṇāśrama-dharma.
          The success of this book has been in bringing to the forefront
          some major issues that vitally require discussion among Śrīla
          Prabhupāda’s  followers.  Considering  that  the  former  cover
          and title were particularly criticized, I have changed these
          in the hope that its detractors will now seriously consider
          its subject matter, instead of merely seeking to ban the book
          (which they have already attempted, and with some success).
          As Śrīla Prabhupāda so lucidly analyzed, much is wrong with
          the world today. Especially in the West, “marriage is practically
          now an imagination in human society.”  Men and women do
                                                 1
          not know how to live together peacefully, and they produce
          children who simply create further disturbance. Mothers and
          Masters addresses the confusion regarding gender roles, which
          is the underlying cause of much of this ongoing social disaster,
          and presents a clear alternative – whereas the opponents of
          this book seem determined to adjust devotional life to fit into
          and perpetuate a civilization that Śrīla Prabhupāda certified to
          be on the level of cats and dogs.

          Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission was “sarve sukhino bhavantu: Let
          everyone be happy”  – to educate people how to be happy
                              2
          in this lifetime by practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness within
          varṇāśrama-dharma, and to thus prepare in the best possible
          way for the next life. To this end, Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted
          that his disciples show an ideal example to the world by
          establishing Kṛṣṇa conscious communities, wherein everyone
          performs his prescribed role – for instance, and importantly,
          that men are really men and women are clearly women, by
          dress, behavior, and temperament. Moreover, protected women


          1. Bg 16.7, ppt.
          2. Lecture, 4 Jun 1969.
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