Relevant portions of the Vedic Duties which would suit the individual's disposition and also a group with the same disposition were organised and presented as Smritis. There are quite a few number of Smritis to be followed . Though all the Smritis state from the Vedas, and each one of them is an authority for all the Varnas, it is traditional for some groups to follow a specific Smriti...Kashtriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras are to follow Manu Smriti. Though Brahmins are expected to follow Manu Smriti, it is traditional to follow eleven Smritis, including Manu Smriti.
Tag: Gotra
And over a period of years Brahmins have started using their professions as their surnames ,as against the Hindu practice of using Sharma as their surname and for indentification their Pravara/Abhivadan Mantra. So when one has a surname like Upadhyaya it merely denotes the profession and not a caste. To find it one has to check the Pravara.
I received a comment that whether Shankaracharya's gotra is Namboodiri and whether his gotra belongs to Viswakarma . I replied that Namboodiri is a sect of Brahmins and they have Gotras and though I have written on Namboodiris, I shall write on their Gotras.
There seems to be some apprehension in some quarters that the origin of the rishis might reflect on the descendants present social standing. This is not warranted if one understands that lineage is determined by disposition and Character and not birth as a matter of right. This is probably the reason for the proverb in Tamil that states that one should not look deeply into the origin of Rishis and rivers for in both the cases the origins may not be worth to begin with.
Reason is that many Rishis have more than one wife and many children through each of them. Kasyapa had more than one wife. The Prajapati Daksha gave his thirteen daughters (Aditi, Diti, Kadru, Danu, Arishta, Surasa, Surabhi, Vinata, Tamra, Krodhavasha,Idā, Vishva and Muni in marriage to Kashyapa. Though the Father is one, mother is different.
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