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INTRODUCTION
Bráhmans are interdicted* from marrying women having the same Golra or Pracara as they themselves have. This interdiction is in force not only in Southern India, but throughout the whole length and breadth of India.
To marry a woman belonging to the same Gotra or having the same Pravara is regarded as incest and visited with severe penance. Gotra and Pracara being thus of paramount importance in the social relations of Brahmans, I thought that the publication of the whole literature on the subject would be of some interest to the general reader.
Gotra means a family, or a caste according to families. Pravara means a call or summons.
Every Bráhman is obliged by Law to pronounce the name of his important ancestors who were the founders of his family, whenever he has to perform a sacred act or has to repeat his prayers or invoke the gods, in order to show that, as a descendant of worthy ancestors, he is a fit and proper person to do the act he is performing. Practically, a Brahman repeats their names thrice every day, when he repeats his morning, noon and evening prayers. The latest important Rishi from whom he is descended is known as Gotra-Rishi ; and the ancestors of that Rishi whose names also he is bound to pronounce are known as Pravara-Rishis.
Different families pronounce the names of different numbers of their ancestors though they belong to one and the same family. The rule is that the number of Pravara-Rishis whose names should be pronounced should be either 1, 2, 3 or 5, but no other. There are, however, a few exceptional cases in which 7 names are pronounced,
Gotra-Rishis are numerons, and it is impossible to prepare an exhaustive list of their names, though in the Appendix I have
*Asvaláyana X11, 15; Apastamba II, 11-15; Yájravalkya 1.58.
