04-27-2004, 08:51 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-Hauma Hamiddha+Apr 27 2004, 07:08 AM-->QUOTE(Hauma Hamiddha @ Apr 27 2004, 07:08 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> Technically gotras are inherited with the male line. Thus everyone gets their father's gotra.
In practice there are many variations on this theme:
1) There have been people who cheated in the past especially to acquire entry into higher castes.
2) If a person becomes an honorary kshatriya or honorary vaishya, they may tentively adopt their brAhmana guru's pravara for the duration of a ritual (some time they retain it if they do only 1 major ritual).
3) If a person is being made into an honorary brAhmaNa, he is usually assigned the kAshyapa gotra without a specific lineage.
4) Because of these events in the past the gotras approximately but not always indicate common ancestory and this usually holds good only amongst brAhmaNas. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
In Addition to the above, a person who is ADOPTED (Dattham) by someone automatically gets the adopter's gotra.
I remember that there were some ppl in Srirangam became Brahmanas by saying "Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya". I am not sure if they had a gotra assigned en masse.
In practice there are many variations on this theme:
1) There have been people who cheated in the past especially to acquire entry into higher castes.
2) If a person becomes an honorary kshatriya or honorary vaishya, they may tentively adopt their brAhmana guru's pravara for the duration of a ritual (some time they retain it if they do only 1 major ritual).
3) If a person is being made into an honorary brAhmaNa, he is usually assigned the kAshyapa gotra without a specific lineage.
4) Because of these events in the past the gotras approximately but not always indicate common ancestory and this usually holds good only amongst brAhmaNas. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
In Addition to the above, a person who is ADOPTED (Dattham) by someone automatically gets the adopter's gotra.
I remember that there were some ppl in Srirangam became Brahmanas by saying "Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya". I am not sure if they had a gotra assigned en masse.