State and Government in Ancient India c8.s2.29

c8.s2.29

The society depicted by Kauṭilya permits levirate and re-marriages of widows, as also post-puberty marriages and divorces (pp. 151-159). This was the state of affairs in the Mauryan age. Scant respect is shown to the Buddhists (p. 199) and persons are prohibited from becoming recluses without providing for their families (p. 48). This would indicate that the work was written at a time when Buddhism had not yet become strong enough to induce people to leave their families and join the order. The work frequently uses the word *yukta* in the sense of an official, as is done in the edicts of Aśoka. In later centuries this term went out of vogue.