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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.