It is believed that the gotra system was started among the Brahmins, which was a system to classify and identify the families in the community. Lets understand what is gotra? It is believed that the gotras are descendents of ‘saptrishi’, meaning seven sages. The seven sages are Angirasa, Atri, Gautam, Kashyapa, Bhrigu, Vasistha, and Bharadwaja. The classification of gotra came in to existence during the vedic period. This custom of gotra was established to avoid marriages between blood relatives, and thus strict rules were established to determine who can marry which lineage.
According to vedic astrology, wedding in the same gotra is strictly prohibited as it is considered impure. Ancient Indian traditions and vedic astrology is deep rooted in science. According to scientific researches, marriage between blood relatives can lead to abnormal offspring due to genetic mismatch and hybrid DNA combinations. With the passage of time, the system of gotra in hindu culture became an important parameter for finalizing a wedding, and has now became a well established system even in modern society.
It is still to be understood that whether such a system is still of any logical importance or is it just a hullabaloo. After analyses a few are questions still remain unswered.
- Muslims marry within their own kith and kin – why then is it that they do not suffer from any genetic diseases? If this was the case then all of the Muslims would have been suffering from Recessive diseases. But this is not the case – why?
- Was it even about ancestors? Humanity has been here much before 3000 and 4000 BC – the time from which this system has started. So was it even about our ancestors? Some historians believe no. It was simply about the Gurus. For example, the followers of Guru Shandilya were supposed to be of Shandilya clan, and so on.
So, it still leaves us puzzeled as to whether gotra matching is essential in wedding or not.
