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Gauḍa brahmins

The comprise one of the five sub-divisions of Panch-Gauda (, i.e., "fivefold Jāti of Gauda Brahmins").

History

Pt Lāl Śarmā writes that the region from Bengal to Kashmir was country . That is why five major sub-divisions of north Indian brahmins are named Panch-Gauda, after the name . The Sanskrit text Ādi--dīpikā mentions that the region west of river bounded by Sarayu in west and south and by Himalayas in the north is the core of country and brahmins living here from the beginning (=Ādi) of Creation were known as Ādi- . Another story relates Ādi- brahmins of this region to those brahmins who were invited by King Janamejaya in his yajña and settled in the Ādi- region .

Sub-divisions of Gauda brahmins

At present the chief branches of brahmins are :

Ādi- (in Ādi- region mentioned above).
Deś Wāli (in Madhyadeś).
Pachāde (western brahmins).
Śri (originally from Kashmir, now in Gujarāt, Rājasthān, Mālwā).

Other minor branches of are :

Pārik (from Parāśara).
Dāyamā/dadheech_brahmins (from Dadhīca).
Prabhāva Wāle (from Gotama).
(from Khārika).
Sārsvata (from Sāra, distinct from the Sārasvata brahmins).
Sukuwāl (from Sukumārga).
aadi gaur vashistha madhyandini sakha dholpuriya [Bangal----hastinaur{U P}-----dholpur{Raj}-----jevar tappal{U P}----sikri kalan brahmin ghaziabad]

Organisation of Gauda brahmins : Deśwāli & Pachāde gotras

Deśwāli & Pacāte form the mainstream Gaudas, numerically. enumerates 24 original gotras, but Kul Pradīpikā gives a list of 28 main gotras. Only 12 gotras are common to both lists : . All these are found today among brahmins.

Following is the list of 12 gotras unique to :. All these are ancient and widespread gotra names.Only the s enumerate these 12 gotras among the original gotras. Other s accept these gotras but not as original ones. Sri list is very different.

Both the lists given above are to be found in the comprehensive list of extant gotras given below. But four gotras unique to Kul Pradīpikā are not found today : . may imply , because does not appear to be any name at all.. may be same as or precursor of cannot be related to any modern gotra, it is perhaps a precursor of some modern or extinct gotra/gotras. gotra is not found as such now, but as five sub-divisions : Apara .

King Janamejaya had granted 1444 villages to 1444 brahmins headed by Vateśwar Muni invited in his yajña . Later, there disciples from various gotras came to them and settled in their villages. As a result, many gotras were found in one village. Such multi-gotra villages came to be called as śāsanas (because disciples lived in the śāsana / control of gurus). Often one śāsana is found in more than one gotra, and more than one śāsana is found in a śāsana. brahmins prohibit endogamy within a gotra as well as within a śāsana. Each śāsana has a distinct name, signifying the name of some ancient village. . Some gotras have a large number of śāsanas associated with them. Later on, descendants of these original 24 or 28 gotra-founders became bīj-purusha (founding fathers) of new gotras, so that there are 115 gotras among brahmins now, as the following comprehensive list shows (figures following each gotra indicates the number of śāsanas associated with that gotra) :

Agniveśa Bhārdvāja 21
Agastya 15
.

śāsana

Sum total of all existing śāsanas as given above is 1690, but some śāsanas are found in more than one one gotra ; hence, the traditional story about number of original śāsanas stated to be 1444 matches admirably with extant number of śāsanas. Gotras with highest number of śāsana associated with them are :

Bhardvāja :84 + 186 Bhārdvāja
: 41 Apara + 84 Vriddha + 27 Divā + 62 Purva + 39 Uttara
Kauśika :108
Vatsa : 75
Parāśara :34 + 25 of Pārāśara
Gautama :42
Atri :36
Śāndilya :31
Kaśyapa :24 + 9 of Kāśyapa
:15 + 13 of Bhārgava
Hārita :25
Mudgala :22
Agniveś Bhārdvaja :21
:19
Garga :18

The names of these gotras and śāsanas throw much light on many historically and sociologically significant aspects of brahmin communities. For instance, one gotra is named Āsuri and it has four śāsanas : abhicāriā, bhalārhiā, malaiyā and pāñcāliā. It suggests that this Āsuri (literally, demonic) gotra was related to ritals like abhicāra associated with Tantra (perhaps Vāmamārgi) which might have prevailed in parts of Pañcāla in some remote age. Pulastya gotra has śāsanas bearing names like Lankapuriya, Tantariya, Yantri, etc, which suggest a relation with gotra has interesting śāsanas named Daityācārya, Daityapāla, Abhicāraka, etc. Such names are, however, rare and almost all gotra names are associated with names of Vedic sages.

Yājñavalkya gotra has 7 śāsanas, including Janaksthaliyā (place of Janaka, ancient king of Mithila). Śākalya gotra also has one śāsana named Janakpuriyā, and another named Vangawāl, which indicate eastern origins of some śāsanas. Similarly some śāsanas can be traced to Gujarāt, Sindh and Kumāun. Barring these exceptions , all the śāsanas belong to Madhyadeś, the region from in the east to Rājasthan and in the west .

The

Dhaumya (family priest of ) is an important gotra and its 8 śāsanas indicate following 8 ancient villages/towns where they lived : , Sahāranpur, Muktanagar, Kamalgiri, Gajapur and . Many of these śāsanas are associated with characters and locale of Mahabharata. Bāghpat is said to evolve from Bāghaprastha, on the analogy of Indraprastha, but Vyāghrapāda gotra has a śāsana Bāghpatia (i.e."of Baghpat"), which suggests that Bāghpat was perhaps called Vyāghrapāda (name of a sage) and not Bāghaprastha. Folklore relates Bāghpat with five village demanded by .

Organisation of Ādi Gauda

Ādi s are differently organised than the main s described above. There are 15 sakhas (divisions) among Ādi s :

.
Lambhita
Negama
Gautama : the descendants of Vedic sage Gotama are called Gautama .
Gangāputra
Hariyānā
Saurabha : belonging to Saurabha region where Saubhari dwelt (perhaps Saubhari transformed into Saurabha due to linguistic change).
Dālbhya
Sukhsena
Suryadhwaja
Vālmīka : They claim descent from sage Vālmīki whose āśrama was believed to be at Ābugarh.
Māthura

Veda, Śākhā, Sutra, Āvantaka & Nūkha of Ādi Gauda

All have same Veda (Śukla Yajurveda), same Śākhā (Madhyandina), same Sutra (Paraskara), but Nūkhas (surnames) and differ.}} There are 20 :

Organisation of Śri Gauda

In 1268 AD, King Vijay Simha of Gujarat invited 200 to settle in his state. These s originally lived in Nagar (perhaps Śrinagar) of Kashmir, but migrated to Malwa due to a famine and finally settled in Gujarāt.}}. Later, more migrants from Kāśmīr arrived, causing a division between old and new.New s have 22 clans, half of them are regarded as uttama (best) and the rest medium. Their kuladevi (clan-deity)) is (another name of Śri-devi of Śri-nagar).

Those who came to Mālwā from Meerut are called . Those who directly came to Mālwā from Kāśmīr are known as Mālāvī . Those originating from Kharola are called Kharola , and those who came from Kharsod are called Kharsodiye .

Prawāliye are inhabitants of and are characterised by a lack of religiosity. Those who married with Śudra women are known as . Excepting these last two all s branches allow marriages among each other, other s do not marry with Prawāliye and .

Gotra, Tanka, Pravara, Āspada of Śri Gaudas

The first of the following list has 5 pravaras, all other s have 3 pravaras. s are differentiated mainly by means of 22s, because only 15 gotras have survived in them due to uprooting (from Kashmir) and wanderings. Āspada means surname.

Organisation of Śri Gaudas

	Gotra	Āspada
	Vatsa	Jośi
	Vatsa	Jośi
	Kuśaks
	Pāska	Dube
Chālecā	Kauśika	Dube
Kāśmirā	Garga	Jośi
	Candrātreya	Dube
		Dube
Nāhāpalā	Bhardvāja
	Bhardvāja	Jośi
	Atri	Dube
	Atri	Vyāsa
	Atri
	Modgala
		Dube
Śiholiā		Dube
	Pārāśara	Jośi
Sundariā		Jośi
	Kātyāyana
	Kātyāyana	Dube
	Kātyāyana	Dube
	Kātyāyana

Another organisation sequence (krama) like the above of 21 divisions, known as , is also in vogue. The use their own '''-krama.

Traditional Areas of Gauda brahmins

A cursory look at some identifiable śāsanas of Deśwāli and Pachāde Gaudas reveals the traditional areas :

Ujjain, Indore, Sāgar
Garhwāl, Pahāriā, Kalāt
Bhojpur, Gayā, Janakpur, Janaksthala

Following is the traditional area for all : "Hariyānā and Jangaldeś in the Madhyadeś, Delhi, regions around Yamunā, Mārwār, Śekhāwati, , Matsya and (in Rajasthan), Bhiwāni, etc" are traditional areas of brahmins according to the author of A History of Brahmin Clans. says that regions north of Sarayu and Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, around Sravasti near modern , are (also) traditional areas of . This latter view is supported by Matsya which linked "best brahmins" to the Gaudadesh of Śrāvasti near modern district..

Surnames

Mishra, Mehrishi, Soral, Tiwāri, Dube, Gautam, Puthiā, Chaumoharia, etc are chief shrnames among Deś Wāli brahmins. Śukla is also a surname among brahmins, among Ādi Śukla is the surname of a majority, followed by Miśra and Parota .

Surname in Ādi is known as Nūkha

Customs and Practices

brahmins are mostly Yajurvedi and some are Sāmvedi too. Generally, upanayana accompanies marriage, and early marriage is preferred . With increasing modernisation, such trends are expected to decline. the surname of the aadi gour brahmin are write in westran U P, Haryana,Delhi & some part of rajesthan is sharma, gaur and name of the his gotra mostly.

Criticism

Pt Lāl Sarmā writes that the sāsanas had originated due to settling of many gotras in a single village, as disciples settled in the village of their guru to acquire Vedic and related knowledge . Moreover, a new gotra was started by the name of a person who attained the status of a rishi by dint of spiritual accomplishments. It shows that the organisational mechanism was dynamic and depended upon the principal objective of a brahmin's life : acquisition of scriptural knowledge and spiritual purity. But during the mediaeval age, brahmins received grants like agrahāras (land grants) and stuck to landed properties, and the organisational system gradually ossified. Pt Lāl Sarmā narrates many stories in his book which reveal that accepting grants from mundane powers was regarded a vice by rishis and a major cause of multiple divisions within the once monolothic brahmin community was ostracisation of those who grabbed such land grants. This primordial monolithic character of brahmin community is mentioned in a Sanskrit text :

सृष्टियारम्भे ब्राह्मणस्य जातिरेका प्रकीर्तिता ।

Meaning : There was one caste of Brahmin in the beginning of Creation.

Notes

References

Kalhana's Rajatarangini: A Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir; 3 Volumes > M.A.Stein (translator),(Introduction by Mohammad Ishaq Khan),published by Saujanya Books at Srinagar,2007,(First Edition pub. in 1900),ISBN: 81-8339-043-9 / 8183390439.
A History of Brahmin Clans in Hindi, by Dorilāl Śarmā,published by Rāśtriya Brāhamana Mahāsabhā, Vimal Building, Jamirābād, Mitranagar, Masūdābād,Aligarh-1, 2nd ed-1998. (This Hindi book contains the most exhaustive list of Brahmana gotras and pravaras together their real and mythological histories).
by Pt. Jwālā Prasād Misra, published by Khemaraj Shrikrishnadas, Bombay, (1914).
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Mayne's "Treatise on Hindu Law and Usage,15th ed.,New Delhi: Bharat Law House, 2003.
Kane, Pandurang Vaman(1880 - 1972), "History of Dharmaśāstra " (ancient and mediæval religious and civil law in India), Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 1962 - 1975.
Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies, by Abbe J. A. Dubois,English translation first published in 1816, Reprint. 1999(Third edition. Delhi, Low Price Pub.), 2 volumes, 741 p.,ISBN 81-7020-927-7.
(Manusmriti) : Available online as The Laws of Manu
History of India by Herman Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, Published 2004,Routledge,448 pages,ISBN 0415329205
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