I am here today with yet another interesting topic, the concept of "Gotra" in Hinduism. Most of us would have heard this word especially during marriage proposals. Yes.... It is a very important component in Hindu marriage system and it is strongly advised that two people of the same gotra should not marry. Ever wondered why such a rigid condition is kept? Genetics...... yes, it is all about genetics and genealogy. It is a bit complicated subject but I have tried my best to present it in the best possible way I can.
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QUICK VIEW :
| Key concept | Gotra System |
| Spiritual point of view | Origin attributed to sages, Different gotras for different sects, Change of gotra for women after marriage, Prevention of same gotra marriages, |
| Scientific version | Concept of XY chromosomes, Male lineage and ancestry based on Y chromosome, Rapid degeneration of Y chromosomes, DNA repair, prevention of marriage between cousins |
| Comparisons | Women changing gotra after marriage is due to the importance of Y chromosome. Prevention of same gotra marriages are a way to prevent genetic defects and to maintain and protect healthy Y chromosomes. |
Terminology :
"Go + tra" = Gotra. In sanskrit, "go" means cow. "trahi" means shed. In simple terms "gotra" means "cow shed". Contextual meaning here is that gotra is human lineage (ancestry) from a particular person (paternal side) in an enclosed way like in the case of cows within enclosure. Gotra is always passed from father to son but not to daughter. When a daughter gets married, she gets the gotra of her husband and there is an amazing scientific reason behind it.
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Importance in Marriage :
As mentioned in the introduction, it is an important rule that two people of the same gotra should not marry. Since we have understood the meaning of gotra now, we can clearly know that all persons who have the same gotra have come from the same ancestor. In simple terms two persons having the same gotra are called siblings (sagotra) and this is the main reason behind such prohibition. But.... is that all? No. An impressive answer is awaiting at the end of this post.
Manusmrithi (chapter 3 verses 5 and 6) states that "A damsel who is neither a Sapintha on the mother's side nor belongs to the same family on the fathers side is recommended to twice-born men for wedlock and conjugal union ". "In connecting himself with a wife, let him carefully avoid the ten following families, be they ever so great or rich in kine, horses, sheep grain or other property".
Modern science also now agrees that marriage between blood relation doubles the risk of birth defects.
List of gotras :
This is a real big list. Different sects (varnas) have different gotras. For instance, the Brahmin lineage comes from 8 sages called "Gotrakarins" who are the seven Saptarishis named Angirasa, Atri, Gautama, Kashyapa, Bhrigu, Vasistha, Kutsa + Bharadwaja. Over time, the descendants of these sages (pravara) established their own gotra. As such there are totally 49 gotras today among the Brahmins.
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The following links will provide extensive list of gotras of all varnas. Since it is not possible to mention everything in this post, I have substituted it with links.
Why Gotra of women change after marriage but not men?
In the beginning I have mentioned that gotra is always passed on from father to son but not daughter. Hence when a son gets married his gotra doesn't change but a daughter adopts the gotra of her husband after marriage. "Why such a weird concept? Always emphasis is given to men but not women....." such thoughts will come to mind first, but...... is it weird? No.. here comes the amazing science of genetics.
Human Genes and Chromosomes :
Chromosomes in humans are divided into two types, autosomes and sex chromosomes. Human cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes (22 pairs of autosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosomes), giving a total of 46 per cell. In each pair one chromosome comes from father and other one from mother. Out of these 23 pairs, it is that one pair of sex chromosomes which decides the gender of the baby.
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As the above pictures reveal, it is father who always gives "Y" chromosomes to son. On the other hand, a daughter always gets "X" chromosomes from father. Hence the "Y" chromosomes are always preserved through male lineage generations after generations. Women never get "Y" chromosomes in their body.
Back to the Gotra System :
Modern scientific way of tracking genetics and identifying ancestry is by way of these chromosomes. This same objective is achieved by the Vedic Gotra system. Though the methods are different, concept is the same. For instance, if a person belongs to "Kashyapa Gotra" that means, the "Y" chromosome have come all the way over many thousands of years from the sage Kashyapa. In other words, Gotra system is a way to track the root "Y" chromosome of a person and from whom it originated.
Even if women do not carry "Y" chromosomes, her sons will carry the same from their father which roots back to the same sage (ancestor). It is only because of this reason ("Y" chromosomes) women are adapting the gotra of their husbands' after marriage. There are no words to appreciate the wisdom and foresight of our ancestors who knew all these concepts long long ago.
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Prevention of same gotra (sagotra) marriages :
Initially we saw that two persons of the same gotra are considered siblings. But this is not the one and only factor which prevents same gotra marriages. Remember I told that there is an impressive answer? But before going to that, there are few interesting things to know about "Y" chromosomes.
How about men going extinct ?
What???? Really??? Are you kidding????? I can totally understand that kind of feeling while reading such strange thing. Please watch this video...
And..... these links too....
In detail :
Scientific studies of genetics have suggested that men have lost many genes, "Y" chromosomes, in the past several thousand years. These chromosomes were once thought to be identical far back in the early history of mammals but now the "Y" chromosome now has about 78 genes compared with about 800 in the "X" chromosome. "Y" chromosomes are crucial for the creation and evolution of males and such weakness would create adverse effects. Debates are going on whether it will be able to survive for few million years into the future..... Scientists are working with some alternative plans as well..... But what is the reason for such weakness? In simple words we can state that "marriage within blood relations even after many generations will result in genetic defects thereby shrinking the population of healthy "Y" chromosomes. But a detailed explanation is needed to understand this better. Please go to the following links especially the wikipedia link of "Y" chromosomes to get a deeper idea about this.
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Gotra concept - Could it be a vision?
Okay. Here comes the connection between spiritualism and science. After reading this post in full, we now have an idea about "Y" chromosome and its degeneration. Our gotra concept strictly prevents marriages within the same gotra (gotra is always paternal side). It was once followed very rigidly but gradually it lost its importance. What could be the reason for the Vedic Sages to impose such a rigid rule? Did they already foresee such genetic defects and degeneration of "Y" chromosomes? There is no direct answer to this question. But after a detailed analysis of gotra system and by connecting it with modern day genetics, one can clearly understand that protecting the healthy "Y" chromosomes was the main idea behind this. Since "Y" chromosomes come from men only, paternal side was very much emphasized and a girl is made to change her gotra after marriage. Even after 100 generations, marriage within same gotra will result in defective genes and that is why same gotra marriages were prevented. Taking these points into consideration, we can strongly conclude that "Gotra" system is a great genetic science.
The study of Gotra, the genetic science of ancient periods, is a remarkable field. Watch Youtube Vpn It unravels fascinating insights into our ancestry and lineage.
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