Gotra and Pravara (गोत्रप्रवरश्च)

Gotra (Samskrit: गोत्रम्) is of supreme importance in several fundamental matters and practices associated with Sanatana Dharma. Gotra of a family is said to be named after the rshi-ancestor who founded the family in the immemorial past. Such families grew with their tradition over many many generations of their children, grandchildren and students. Gotra came to denote the 'family' or the 'clan'. Pravara rshis are belong to the same clan. One of the most important rule laid down in the Grhyasutras and Dharmashastras regarding marriage is that no man shall marry a maiden from within his own gotra.

Pravara (प्रवरः) is another term closely connected with the gotra. Pravara literally means 'invocation' or 'recitation' of the names of famous rishi ancestors during important occasions. While gotra indicates the lineage or ancestry of a person, pravara denotes the important rishis in that ancestry.

As a part of nitya sandhyavandana, a person has to repeat the names of his ancestral rshis (three times a day) to show his lineage and thus Pravara recitation is often required. Whenever a person visits Peetha Adhipatis, when he has to perform a yajna, prayers to invoke deities, homas and such sacred activities, he has to recite the pravara.

परिचयः॥ Introduction

Gotra, another unique aspect of Sanatana Dharma, is a fundamental matter to the Indian Society. It has an important role in determining relationships socially. In the Brahmana literature there are several indications that priestly families formed into several groups named after their founding rishis and such families differed in details of worship according to the group they belonged to.

According to Manu, the following eight (mula-rshis) were the Gotrakara rshis or family founders.

जमदग्निर्मरद्राजो विश्वामित्रात्रिगौतमाः । वसिष्ठ काश्यपागस्त्या मुनयो गोत्रकारिणः । एतेषां यान्यपत्यानि तानि गोत्राणि मन्यते ॥

Summary: Jamadagni (जमदग्निः), Bharadvaja (भरद्राजः), Vishvamitra (विश्वामित्रः), Atri (अत्रिः), Gautama (गोतमः), Vasishta (वसिष्ठः), Kashyapa (काश्यपः), and Agasthya (अगस्त्यः) are the Gotrakara (rshis). Their children are also considered as gotras.

Gotra was discussed extensively in the context of marriage rules. Every varna was further divided into a number of exogamous groups. Such groups may be formed by members of the same clan having common gotra and pravara. Marriage between the members belonging to the same exogamous group was prohibited. Gobhila, Apastamba, Hiranyakesin, and Jaimini lay down that a man should not marry a girl belonging to his own Gotra. Gautama, Vasishtha, and Manava. G. S. state that a man should marry a girl who does not have the same Pravara. Further in the Dharmashastra and Grhyasutra texts we find that some rishis forbade marriage with a sagotra (samana or same gotra rshis) girls while some others prohibit it with a sapravara (same pravara rshis) girls. Many seers, and works like Vishnu Dharmasutra (24.9), Yajnavalkya (1.53), Narada Smrti (Stripumsa, 7) have ordained that marriage to a sagotra and sapravara girl is "amanya" or not accepted.

Gotra is also important in the context of Asoucha especially in Mrta-Asoucha to determine which member of the family has to follow the restrictions of Asoucha for how many days. For example,

एकपिण्डास्तु दायादाः पृथग्दारनिकेतनाः । जन्मन्यपि विपत्तौ च तेषां तत्सूतकं भवेत् ॥ ३.7 ॥ (Para. Smrt. 3.7)

Even if the Dayadis (one who are sagotras and sapindas) have separate homes and their families are not living in joint families, they have the same rules of ten days of sutakam (both at birth and death).

In the recent past, extensive research regarding exogamy (marrying outside the clan) and endogamy (marriage of related persons) has unearthed some interesting aspects about the new generations of people both biologically as well as psychologically. Eugenists have been warning the world so much against in-marrying which they have found out to be the cause of racial degeneration - physical, mental and moral; so also have these pioneer workers been telling their own people in no small voice, against unreasoned, eccentric and emotional choosing and mating, called ‘falling in love’ in popular parlance. In this context Gotra plays an extremely important role in the process of mating and hence one must look deeply into the rules, methods of Sanatana Dharma and outlook of exogamy and endogamy in Indian societies. We will discuss more such aspects about Gotra in this article.

Etymology of Gotra

Though the word Gotra is used in the Rigveda to express many meanings according to the context, such as a cow-stall, a cloud, a fort, and a mountain range, yet ‘enclosure’ appears to be the main idea associated with Gotra. Later on the word Gotra came to signify a group of persons living together within the same walls. In the Srauta, Grihya and Dharmasutras, the term Gotra denotes a group of persons who are distinguished by the same family name (i.e. surname) and who are believed to have descended from the same ancestor. Here are a few instances

• In the Rigveda (1.5.113, 1.17.1, 3.39.4, 3.4337, 9.86.23, 10.48.2, 10.12018), gotra means "cowstable" or "cowshed"or "herd of cows". By a natural metaphor, the 'Gotra' represents a cloud (in which waters are held just as cows in a cow-shed) or Vrtra (the cloud-asura) and also to a mountain range or peak which conceals water-yielding clouds.
• In Rigveda (2.23.3) (where Brihaspati's chariot is said to be Gotrabhid) Taittriya samhita (4.3.4.1), Atharva veda (5.2.8) etc, the term Gotra has been used in the sense of "Durg or Fort".
• In Rigveda (2.23.18) and (6.65.5) gotra is used in the sense of "samuha" or assemblage.
• In the Atharvaveda (5.21.3) the compound "Vishvagotrayaha" is used, and the word Gotra here clearly means 'a group of persons connected together by blood'.
• In the Kaushika sutra (4.2) quotes a mantra in which gotra undoubtedly means "a group of persons".
• Several passages in the Taittriya samhita show that descendants of great rshis were often called after the names of those rshis. In Tait. Samh (1.8.18) it is said 'hota is a Bhaargava". Bhaargava is the descendant of Bhrgu maharshi.
• It is possible that in those times descent was traced through teacher and student as well as father and son. In numerous mantras of the Rigveda the descendants of well-known rshis are denoted by the plural form of the names of those rshis. In Rigveda (6.35.5) the Bharadvaajas are referred to as Aangirasas. Sunahsepa is said to have been an Aangirasa by birth (Aitr. Brah. 33.5). This illustrates that gotra relationship was by birth (and not from teacher to pupil). However, in the Upanishads, the rshis when expounding the knowledge of Brahman addressed their students by the gotra names. e.g. Vaiyaaghrapada and Gautama in Chandogya Upanishad (5.14.1 and 5.16.1) Gautama and Bharadvaaja, Vishvamitra and Jamadagni, Vasishta and Kashyapa in Brhdaranyaka Upanishad (2.2.4)
• In the Brahmana literature families of purohitas differing in details of worship, grouped together based on their similarity in worship. Such groups were named after their founding rshis. For example, Taittriya Brahmana (1.1.4) prescribes that aadhana (consecration) of the agnis was to be performed by one mantra by the families of Bhrgus or Aangirases, while other families use a different mantra in the same context.

In this context it shows that reference to gotras in the Brahmanas and Upanishads were given in connection with performing yajnas and imparting brahmajna. There are no distinct references to these gotras and sagotra in relation to marriage. In the Latyayana srautasutra (8.2.8 and 10) in the discussion about Visvajit yajna there is a reference to marriage with 'samana-jana' (used in the sense of sagotra). This proves that long before this srautasutra marriage with a sagotra had been forbidden.

Pravara

As mentioned above, Pravara rshis belonged to same lineage as the Gotra rshis among their children, grandchildren and students. Among the Pravara rshis, notably we find the mantra-drashtas. Pravara means recalling the lineage of a person and reciting the names of the descendants of the mula-rshi or the founding father along with the ancient rshis of that lineage. Pravara not only includes the father-son relationships in the descendants but also recalls the students of the founding rshi. The system of Gotras and Pravaras has been given in the ancient past and cannot be changed in any way. Neither the rshis mentioned in the Pravara nor the sequence in which they are to pronounce their names can never be changed by anyone. Pravara includes the Gotra rshi, either at the beginning, middle or at the end and in some instances may not be included. (Telugu Book)

Number of Gotras and Pravaras

Baudhayana says that though there are innumerable Gotras, the number of their Pravaras is forty-nine only.

Regarding the number of the Rishis in a Pravara, the Man. S. S. and Apastamba lay down that one Rishi, or two, or three, or five Rishis may be included in a Pravara ; and Apastamba imposes the restriction that four or more than five Rishis should never be chosen for inclusion in the specific formula to to recited at the yajna.