Editing Gotra (section)

==Origins==
As a [[Vedic Sanskrit|Rigvedic]] term, ''gotra'' simply means "forward moving descendants".<ref>{{cite book |last=Saraswati |first=Swami Dayanand |url=https://vedicscriptures.in/rigveda/1/164/17 |title=Rigvedadi-Bhashya-Bhumika |publisher=Vijaykumar Govindram Hasanand |year=2010 |isbn=978-8170771296 |page=199 |access-date=28 August 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024427/https://vedicscriptures.in/rigveda/1/164/17 |url-status=live }}</ref>  (गौः) गमन करनेवाली (पृथिवी) means one always moving (Earth) and (त्र:) stands for Offspring. The specific meaning "family, lineage kin" (as it were "herd within an enclosure") is relatively more recent, first recorded around the mid-1st millennium BCE (e.g., [[Chandogya Upanishad]]).

These "lineages" as they developed among the [[Brahmin]]s of that time meant patrilineal descent. The Brahmanic system was later adopted by other communities, such as the [[Kshatriyas]] and [[Vaishyas]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/239834/gotra|title=Gotra – Indian caste system|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=24 March 2015|archive-date=24 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324203452/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/239834/gotra|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the Vedic theories, the [[Brahmin]]s are direct descendants of seven sages who are believed to be the sons of Brahma, born out of his mind through yogic prowess. They are (1) [[Atri]], (2) [[Bharadvaja]], (3) [[Gautama Maharishi]], (4) [[Jamadagni]], (5) [[Kashyapa]], (6) [[Vasishta]] and (7) [[Vishvamitra]]. To this list, [[Agastya]] is also sometimes added. These eight sages are called gotrakarins, from whom all 108 gotras (especially of the Brahmins) have evolved. For instance, from [[Atri]] sprang the Atreya and Gavisthiras gotras.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/gotra.htm|title=Gotra|work=gurjari.net|access-date=24 March 2015|archive-date=22 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022064714/http://www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/gotra.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Robert Vane Russell]], many gotras of Hindu religion are of [[totem]]ic origin which is named after plants, animals, and natural objects. These are universal among tribes but occur also in Hindu castes. The commonest totem names are those of animals, including several which are held sacred by Hindus, as bagh or Nahar, the tiger; bachhas, the calf; murkuria, the peacock; kachhua, the tortoise; nagas, the cobra; hathi, the elephant; bhains, the buffalo; richaria, the bear; Kuliha, the Jackal, Kukura, the dog; kursaal, the deer; Hiran, the [[Blackbuck]] and so on. The utmost variety of names is found, and numerous trees, as well as rice and other crops, salt, [[sandalwood]], cucumber, pepper, and some household implements such as [[Mortar and pestle|pestle]], rolling slab, serve as the names of clans. Thus the name of the rishi Bharadvaja means a [[Lark|lark bird]], and [[Kaushika]] means descended from [[Desmostachya bipinnata|Kusha grass]], [[Agastya]] from Agassi flower, [[Kashyapa]] from kachhap a tortoise, [[Taittiriya Upanishad|Taittiri]] from titer, the [[partridge]]. Similarly, the origin of other rishis is attributed to animals, [[Rishyasringa]] to an antelope, [[Mandavya]] to a frog, [[Kanada (philosopher)|Kanada]] to an owl. The usual characteristic of [[Totem|totemism]] is that the members of a clan regard themselves as related to or descended from, the animals or trees from which the clan takes its name, and abstain from killing or eating them.<ref>{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Robert Vane |title=The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India|url=https://archive.org/details/tribescastesofce02russ_0|year=1916|publisher=Macmillan and Co|location=London}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

A gotra must be distinguished from a ''kula''. A kula is equal to a particular family, or equal to modern-day "clans".  A kula relates to  a ''caste''.{{cn|date=August 2024}}