Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c20.s1.34

v2.c20.s1.34

Domestic economy rests, according to the Hindu writers, entirely on woman. Hence Manu says: "Let the (husband) employ his (wife) in the collection and expenditure of his wealth, in keeping (everything) clean, in (the fulfilment of) religious duties, in the preparation of his food, and in looking after the household utensils".² In the detailed enumeration of the daily and occasional duties of a woman as given in his *Nīti*, Śukrāchārya reiterates, perhaps with undue vigour, the earlier notions of woman's importance in the regulation of household affairs.³