Gotra

Submitted by spadmin on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 21:19

n the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram, which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny (of a sage) beginning with the son's son". When a person says "I am Kashypasa-gotra", he means that he traces his descent from the ancient sage Kashyapa by unbroken male descent.

Hindu gotras

Submitted by spadmin on Fri, 12/30/2011 - 21:16

There are 49 established Hindu gotras. All members of a particular gotra are believed to possess certain common characteristics by way of nature or profession. Many theories have been propounded to explain this system. According to the brahminical theory, the Brahmins are the direct descendants of seven or eight sages who are believed to be the mind-born sons of Brahma. They are Gautama, Bharadvaja, Vishvamitra, Jamadagni, Vashista, Kashyapa and Atri. To this list, Agasthya is also sometimes added.

Syndicate content