Gotram question by Balaraman M. Sriram

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Balaraman M Sriram (srirambm)

Mon, 12 Oct 1998 13:49:20 PDT

 

Dear Sri Vaishnavas,

 

I have a simple question. What exactly is a gotra/m ? and what

does it signify ? I have heard the gotram being mentioned

while performing archana in the temple and have always

wondered what it is .

 

Please pardon my ignorance.

 

adiyEn,

sriram,balaraman

 

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Dear Balaraman:

Your question is not very simple; it is like wanting to know

for sure what homo sapiens' ancestry was like. They say among the

Acharyas, that one never questions either the Rishi moolam or the

Nadi moolam; i.e. the origins of hermits and rivers. This is not to

mean that we shouldn't be curious about the same, it just means that

we should try not to dispute the oral traditions.

With that said, let me venture to state that gotram usually

represents the Rishi moolam of your paternal ancestry. It is not

sectarian, since brahmana, kshatriya and possibly even vaishyas may have

gotram associated with their lineage (just as much as the rishis

themselves were a diverse group). The majority of Srivaishnavas

belong to one of eleven gotrams, such as Gargai, Kaushika, Srivatsa,

Sadamarshana, Atreya, Bharadwaja, etc. Each of these are associated

with one or more rishis of yore. While it might be puzzling as to

how more than one rishi could "father" a lineage, the traditional

explanation is that gotrams (such as Srivatsa, for example) represent

the offspring of the combined spiritual prowess of its five rishis,

which include Bharvaga and Jamadagni. This is analogous to the yagnya

performed by King Drupada, which "yielded" him his son Dhristadyumna.

The gotram therefore, is a Vedic record of sorts and so would

have no equivalents in the anArya (Dravidian) societies which perhaps

even practiced matrilineal customs. As a matter of fact it is thought

that the reason why gotrams exist in Southern India (where they are

likely confined only to Brahmins) is because of the "migration" of

rishis (such as Agastya) south of the Vindhyas, after the end of the

Dwaparayuga. And, as you may be aware, marriages within the same

gotram are considered inappropriate even though the people may be

unrelated, because ultimately they trace their roots to the same

paternal rishi moolam.

This is my first posting to this group. Please feel free to

write to me with any comments/corrections/suggestions. Have a happy

Maarkazhi season.

 

Truly

-Srinath

 

 

 

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