Lohana Guatra!

 

"Gautra", a term applied to a clan, a group of families, or a lineage - exogamous and matrilineal - whose members trace their descent to a common ancestor, usually a sage of ancient times.

 

A Gautra is of immense importance to a Hindu for it shores up his identity. All Hindu ceremonies require a statement of the gautra. A devout Hindu speaks out his gautra and pravara every day in the morning.

Gautra also comes of use during the performance of the rites of passage or sanskaras. People of the same gautra (sagautra) are not allowed to marry, to prevent inbreeding. At weddings, the gautra of the bride and the groom are proclaimed aloud to establish that they are not breaking this socially ordained genetic precaution. Marriages between certain gautras are also not allowed; for instance, marriages between those of the Vasishtha and Vishvamitra gautras are not permitted. This is because these two sages were opponents and their descendants are traditional foes.

In olden times, every gautra had a definite task to perform. Thus every Veda had priests of specific Gautras for their narration and teaching. Certain sacrifices require priests of a specific Gautra only. 

There are 49 established Hindu Gautras. All members of a particular Gautra 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, Brahmins are direct descendants  of seven or eight sages who are believed to be the mind-born sons of Brahma.


They are Gautama, Bharadvaja, Vishvamitra, Jamadagni, Vasishtha, Kashyapa and Atri. 

To this list, Agastya is also sometimes added. These eight sages are called gautrakarins from whom all the 49 gautras (especially of the Brahmins) have evolved. 

For instance, from Atri sprang the Atreya and Gavisthiras gautras. According to this theory, the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas do not have a gautra and are to speak out the gautras of their Purohita during the various ceremonies. However according to some Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, they are also descendants of these sages. Because of this, many a time a Brahmin, Kshatriya and a Vaishya claim the same gautra. The members of a gautra however need not necessarily be blood relations, but could be spiritual inheritors or descendants of a guru's pupils.

Among the Kshatriyas, Rajputs claim to be the direct descendants of the Sun (Suryavanshi), the Moon (Chandravanshi) or the Fire (Agnikula). They are also divided into numerous clans, each bearing the name of some great ancestor. Similarly every caste and class of the Hindus is divided into many clans. In olden times the members of the Brahmin cal gautras had certain characteristic features distinguishing them from the others: the Bhargavas had their heads shaven, the Angirasas wore five braids and so on.

Gautra closely connected with the concept of gautra is that of Pravara, which is the invocation of Agni by the name of the ancestral sage of whichever Brahmin, consecrates the sacrificial fire. As a rule, there are not more than four or five sages in one pravara. Two gautras having a common pravara are not allowed to marry. For instance those of the Kashyapa and Shandilya gautras cannot intermarry because they share the same sage Asita, in their pravaras. 

Abhivada, the formal proclamation of one's ancestry, is only enjoined upon 'twice-born' males. It includes not just the gautra and pravara but, for a Brahmin, the Veda to which he 'belongs', the Sutra or Vedic interpretation favoured by his gautra and finally his own name. It is said with the thumb behind the ears, in the traditional gesture of invoking ancestors.

Today's great classical musicians invoke their gurus similarly before beginning a concert. 

Vasishtha, Maitra - Varuna, Kaundinya Trayarishiya gautra, Apastambha sutra, Yajushtagadhyayi, Sri Parashuraman Sharmana aham asmiboho. In the Rig-Veda the word gautra means a 'cow-pen'. In the Vedic period, marriage within the family was a common occurrence. The term gautra was used in its present sense for the first time in the Brahmanas. It was systematized around the 4th century BC to accommodate changed social rules and laws and by the time of the Sutras, it was a well-established system. 

Even today almost all families abide by its rules.