Women: Masters or Mothers? is a detailed study of the past and present position and situation of women throughout the world. The book compares the modern-day condition of women in general to how things were some years ago in various cultures around the world, and not just in India. Anyone with an open and unbiased outlook, can see on reading the book, that life was much happier then and people were much more content. Mahārāja gives detailed explanations on topics like why women need to be protected and why women should be married. Many sensitive issues are also dealt with in a very systematic manner with numerous quotes from Śrīla Prabhupāda and śāstra. For example, Mahārāja explains that protection of women does not mean micromanagement of women, and that opposition to feminism does not mean opposition to women. Mahārāja also describes what the victory of a woman is, by citing the example of Sukanyā in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purport on this. I can personally say that I have seen many devotee families in the last several years and I found that the happiest families are those where the wife is submissive to the husband. In my experience this is true for devotees of all the various cultures of the world. I find that in these families, the husbands are much more caring and respectful towards their wives.

In my personal life also, I find that there is more peace and happiness at home and I feel more cared for when I am submissive rather than when I try to be the one in charge. Due to my upbringing, which was aimed at making me into a modern-day, career-oriented woman, I was far away from the standards of strī-dharma, but I consider this book as my guidebook and a source of inspiration to strive to achieve the goal of being a chaste wife and a loving mother for the benefit of my family and myself.