Shloka 22
Family and Relationships — Chanakya Niti
जनिता चोपनेता च यस्तु विद्यां प्रयच्छति ।
अन्नदाता भयत्राता पञ्चैते पितरः स्मृताः ॥
janitā copanetā ca yastu vidyāṃ prayacchati |
annadātā bhayatrātā pañcaite pitaraḥ smṛtāḥ ||
The begetter, the one who conducts the upanayana, the giver of learning, the giver of food, and the protector from fear—these five are remembered as ‘fathers’.
FAQs
In Brahmanical social frameworks reflected in Sanskrit nīti literature, kinship terms such as ‘father’ could be extended to multiple roles tied to social reproduction: birth, ritual initiation (upanayana), education, sustenance, and protection. The verse registers this broader, role-based notion of paternal authority and obligation within premodern South Asian ethical discourse.
Fatherhood is presented as a composite status attributed to five functionaries: the begetter (जनिता), the upanayana initiator (उपनेता), the giver of learning (विद्यां प्रयच्छति), the provider of food (अन्नदाता), and the protector from fear (भयत्राता). The definition is functional and institutional rather than limited to biological paternity.
The shloka uses a classificatory enumeration (पञ्च… एते) to formalize a social taxonomy. The term पितरः (‘fathers’) functions metonymically for authority figures who enable life, status, and security; additionally, compounds like भयत्राता encapsulate an ethical ideal of protection as a recognized source of social legitimacy.