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ORIGIN OF BRANIMIN GOTRAS
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mcntion in most of thic oldest rccords* of his actually having been a king. It docs not nccd dctailcd reference to thc Rgvcda to prove that thc Visvamitras arc themselves Kusikas (ii.33.5, iii.53.9-11, ctc.). But thc Anukramaņi calls thc third book that or Visvāmitra, not of thic Kusikas, as it should.clcarly have bocn denolcd ; in conformity with this Brahınanical method of labclling the cntirc clan after onc grcat representativc, we get in our latcr gotra lists the Kusikas (owl-totem) gcncrally indicatcd as a branch of the Visvamitras, which is again a characteristic inversion dcriving from thc adoption of a forcign system whosc totemic basis had been forgotten, the clan system. As for thc.original position of the Kusikas, it might bc rccallcd that Indra is invokcd as kausika in i.10.11, and this sccins uniquc among the 'Brahmin' clans as far as known, for angirastamas in i.130.3 and vasistha in ii. 36.1 arc Jircct adjcctives, not patronymics, Thc Brahminization, in its surviving form, of thc Viśvāmitra book may cycn be attributed to thc Jamadagni influence so clcarly visiblc thcrcin.. Thc Vasişthas have a special claim to priority in thc priesthood, for the tradition is uncontradicted that thcy first of all thc Brahmins "saw” Indra and began to worship him, whcncc thcy havc first place at the firc-sacrifice. (BȚhaddevati v. 156-159 ; Tait.Sam.iii.5.2).
We arc rather fortunately placed as regards this legend, for the Rgveda has prescrved for us books of both familics. Both arc priests in thc scrvice of king Sudās, who could hiinsclf cxcrcisc pricstly functions, bcing the reputed author of x.133. The scnior pricst is Viávūmitra, thc cponym standing for the cntirc group ; thc gotra namc, as has been shown, is rcally kufika = the owl, a good bird totcm. A famous hymn is iii. 33, by Viśvāmitra to the two Punjab, rivers Vipas and Sutudru which lic crosses with hcavily loaded wagons of the Bharata tribc. This is apparently referred to in ii.53.9 and 11, where Sudās: is the king is made to cross safcly by Viśvāmitra, while iji.53.12 calls down a' blessing of Visvūmitra upon this tribc of the Bharatas. The implication is that Sudās and Viśvāmitra arc Bharatas. This sccms to be partially con-' firmed by vi.16.19, where the ancestralfire of the Bharatas is called the lord of Divodāsa, which is thc name of Sudās's father or paternal ancestor. .
V But thc Vasişthas also claim to bc thc pricsts of Sudás, in their own book, and there is amplc support for this. This disposes of thc fiction that the gotra of a ksatriya is that of his pricst, for it would follow that Sudās Paijavana changed gotras or had more than onc! We have to examinc the question of priority betwccn thcsc two clans which'occupy the pricsthood in succession for the same pcoplc. Hcrc for once we havc uncquivocal testimony : "Like sticks used to drive oxcn werc thc Bharatas split and cnfccblcd (= arbhakāsas ;
*The Pancavimsa Brahmana (xxi.12.9) may refer to some other Vasişthn in calling the sccr thc son of Vidu, though the same accounts calls Visvamitra king of the Jahnus, which would seem to refer to the two founder this.. But the conflicting double account of Vasistha's birth in RV. vii, 83.11-19 whcrcin hc is born of a water-goddess as well as from a jug which rescived the semen of Mitra-Varuna, will appear to be of special interest in tlic scqucl.
