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[F] The 44th adhyaya of Arthaśāstra deals with the duties of the officer who supervises the vocation of thread-spinning. It is mentioned that the wives of errant husbands, the women who are crippled, aged, unmarried ladies and others who are unable to leave the house for earning livelihood, should be given the work of spinning the thread through the female servants serving in the factory.
In the Sūtrakṛtānga-cūrṇi, a story of Ārdraka-kumāra is given at length in the chapter called Ārdrakīya (Sūtrakṛtānga-cūrṇi II, p.414 onwards). Once, the wife of Ardraka was spinning the yarn at home. Her son asked, 'Mother, why are you doing this work when my father is here ?' She told, 'Oh my dear son, your father is leaving us very soon. So I am practising to spin.' The innocent son approaches his father and takes twelve rounds with the thread to tie him. Ārdraka, the father counts the round and stays at house for twelve more years.
This is a remarkable specimen indicating the skill of the Jaina writers to interweave the motifs provided by the Arthaśāstra in their tales. It also throws light on the social condition of women at that time.
[G] The 87th adhyaya of Arthaśāstra deals with the punishments given to the criminals. The punishments like 'cutting the hands, feet and other limbs' are considered in this chapter. At the end of the chapter Kautilya mentions -
"The judge should use the power of discretion before giving the punishments to the convicts. The punishments are of three types - highest, medium or lowest. The punishment depends upon the nature of the crime and the criminal, the reason, intension, time, place, the social and royal status of the criminal and many other things."
