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They are Gautama Maharishi, Bharadwaja,Vishvamitra,Jamadagni, Vashista, Kashyapa, Garg and Atri . To thislist,Agastya is also sometimes added. These eight sages arecalledgotrakarins, from whom all 49 gotras (especially oftheBrahmins) have evolved.
Thereof, what gotra means?
????)means clan. It broadly refers to people who aredescendantsin an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor orpatriline.Generally the gotra forms an exogamous unit, withthemarriage within the same gotra being prohibited bycustom,being regarded as incest.
In this regard, how many Gotras are in Brahmin?
According to theBaudhâyanas'rauta-sûtraVishvâmitra, Jamadagni,Bharadvâja, Gautama, Atri,Vasishtha, Kashyapa and Agastya are8 sages; the progeny of theseeight sages is declared to begotras. This enumeration ofeight primary gotras seemsto have been known toPâNini.
In most cases, the system is patrilineal andthegotra assigned is that of the person's father. Anindividualmay decide to identify his lineage by a differentgotra, orcombination of gotras. According to strictHindu tradition,the term gotra is used only for the lineagesof Brahmin,Kshatriya and Vaishya varnas.