Pranams to HH SRI CHINNA JEEYAR SWAMI,
Please forgive me for this mundane question. The reason why I am asking it, is that I want an answer from an Acharya rather than western historians or Bharatiyas who are not well-versed in our scriptures, etc. I would like to know
how different gotras formed different endogamous sub-groups or jatis? For example the same gotra can be found among the different jatis ( Bharadwaj gotra in a Nambudiri Brahmin and a Kashmiri Pundit). Given that gotras regulate
marriages and that varna is by birth according to shastras (pardon me if I am incorrect); it would mean 2 individuals belonging to the same gotra but of 2 different geographical locations would be “brothers or cousin-brothers”.
The information per western historians state at times gotras are not real and some of the times are made up. Does belonging to a gotra indicate are direct descendant by heredity or adoption or guru-parampara lineage ? If it is not by heredity, than why the ban sagotra marriages?
WE GOT YOUR DOUBT. WE GIVE A CONSOLIDATED ANSWER. GO:THRA STARTED TO SAY THE MAIN RUSHI, FROM WHOM THE LINEAGE IS STARTED. IN OLDEN DAYS, A FEW RUSHIES ARE USED TO FORM A GROUP AND MAKE RELATIONSHIPS ONLY AMONG THEMSELVES, JUST LIKE ‘ASHTAGO:THRIES’ NOW. OF COURSE, THAT SYSTEM IS BEING LOST GRADUALLY. YET THAT
IS HOW THE GROUPS WERE STARTED VIZ., 3, 5, 7, 9 OR 11 & 12 RUSHIS. SIMILAR NAMES WERE THERE TO RUSHIES. BHARADWAJA IS NOT JUST ONE, OR GOUTHAMA IS NOT JUST ONLY ONE. THERE ARE MANY RUSHIES HAVING SIMILAR NAMES. THIS IS A BIG CONFUSION. IN THE SAME GOTHRA, DIFFERENT VEDA SAKHA PEOPLE ARE EXISTING. SIMILARITY CONFUSES
US MOST OF THE TIMES. SO SAME NAME OF THE RUSHI MAY BE THERE WITH IN THE SAME VEDA, IN DIFFERENT SAMPRADAYA, IN DIFFERENT CASTE, AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS OF THE WORLD. ONCE UPON A TIME, ALL THESE PEOPLE WERE LIVING TOGETHER. LATER, SOME TSUNAMI, MUST HAVE SEPERATED THE CONTINENTS AND THUS PEOPLE FORGOT THEIR
ORIGINS. EVEN IN THE SAME COUNTRY, PEOPLE MUST HAVE GOT SEPERATED, BY VIRTUE OF THEIR PROFESSION OR SOMEOTHER REASON. GOTHRA MARRIAGES IN THE SAME CASTE OR FAMILY ARE RESTRICTED, FOR THEIR ORIGIN MIGHT BE ONE.
=Chinnajeeyar=
