GOTHRA SAGES Section 2

                                                                   GOTHRA SAGES

Section II

1. Haritha Gothra. 2. viswamithra Gothra 3. Vasistha Gothra 4. Vadula Gothra 5. Upamanyu Gothra 6. Shounaka Gothra  & 7. Sankrithi Gothra.

1. HARITHA GOTHRA.

Harit/Harita was one of the great kings of Suryavansha. Brahmins with Harita Gothra are the descendants of Harit The Pravara of this Gothra is Angiras, Ambarisha, Yuvanaswa. Ambarisha and Yuvanaswa were also great kings of Suryavansha and ancestors of Lord Rama.

In the Vishnu Purana it is said, "The son of Ambarísha, the son of Mándhátri, was Yuvanáśwa; his son was Harita, from whom the Angirasa Háritas were descended"[1].

Sri Ramanuja was also of Harita Gothra.

 2. VISWAMITHRA GOTHRA

Brahmarshi Vishvamitra is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient times in India. He is also credited as the author of most of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda

The story of Vishvamitra is narrated in the Balakanda of Valmiki Ramayana[1]. The Mahabharata adds that Vishvamitra's relationship with Menaka resulted in a daughter, Shakuntala whose story is narrated in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata.

Vishvamitra was a king in ancient India, also called Kaushika ("the descendant of Kusha"). He was a valiant warrior and the great-grandson of a great king named Kusha. The Valmiki Ramayana, prose 51 of Bala Kanda, starts the legend of Vishvamitra, Gaadhi's son is this great-saint of great resplendence, Vishvamitra.

Regarding sage viswamithra not much familiar points are only  told. It is taken for granted readers are familiar to viwamithra much than other sages.

The Vishnu Purana and Harivamsha chapter 27 (dynasty of Amaavasu) of Mahabharatha narrates the birth of Vishwamitra.

3. Birth of Viswamithra

According to Vishnu Purana[2], kushika married a damsel belonging to Puru-kutsa dynasty and had a son by name Gadhi who had a daughter named Satyavati(not to be confused with Satyavati of Mahabharata).

Satyavati was married to an old Brahman known as Richika who was foremost among the race of Bhrigu. Richika desired a son having the qualities of a Brahman, and so he gave Satyavati a sacrificial offering (charu) which he had prepared to achieve this objective. He also gave Satyavati's mother another charu to make her conceive a son with the character of a Kshatriya at her request. But Satyavati's mother privately asked Satyavati to exchange her charu with her. This resulted in Satyavati's mother giving birth to Vishvamitra, the son of a Kshatriya Gadhi with the qualities of a Brahman; and Satyavati gave birth to Jamadagni, the father of Parasurama, a Brahman with qualities of a Kshatriya.

After many trials and undergoing many austerities, Vishvamitra at last obtained the title of Brahmarishi from Vasishta himself

During this time he had a daughter named Shakuntala (who appears in the Mahabharata) with Menaka, an apsara in the court of Indra. Son of Shakuntala became a great emperor. He came to be known as Emperor Bharata and it is in his name that the land of India got its name Bharat.

Menaka episode and bith of Sakunthala.

Viswamithra earlier name was Kousika. Kaushika knows that Menaka genuinely loves him, so with great sorrow he curses her just to be parted from him forever. Kaushika's love of Menaka is considered to have been intense and passionate beyond estimation.

Rambha episode.

This is brought to light to Kaushika when he angrily curses Rambha, an apsara sent by Indra to seduce Kaushika again, to become a stone for a thousand years.

Trisanku episode

When a proud King Trisanku asked his guru, Vasishta, to send him to heaven in his own body, the guru responded that the body cannot ascend to heaven.

King Trisanku then asked Vasishta's seven sons to send him to heaven. The sons, outraged that Trisanku should not come to them when their father had refused, cursed him to be a chandala, or untouchable.

Having taken pity on Trishanku, he willingly exhausted all the punya he gained from his tapas, to enable him to ascend to the heavens. Angered, Visvamitra used his yogic powers and ordered Trisanku to rise to heaven. Miraculously, Trisanku rose into the sky until he reached heaven, where he was pushed back down by Indra.

Enraged even more by this, the powerful Visvamitra then commenced the creation of another heaven for Trisanku.

Trisanku, however, did not enjoy Trisanku Svarga, he remained fixed in the sky and was transformed into a constellation.  

In the process of forming a new universe, Vishvamitra used up all the tapas he had gained from his austerities. Therefore after the Trisanku episode, Vishvamitra had to start his prayers again to attain the status of a Brahma Rishi, to equal Vashistha.

Harishchandra's Sacrifice( not much known).

While undertaking a penance, Kaushika helps a boy named Shunashepa who has been sold by his parents to be sacrificed at Harishchandra's yagna to please Varuna, the God of the Oceans. The king's son Rohit does not want to be the one sacrificed, as was originally promised to Varuna, so young Sunashep is being taken. A devastated and terrified Sunashepa falls at the feet of Kaushika, who is deep in meditation, and begs for his help.

Kaushika teaches secret mantras to Sunashepa. The boy sings these mantras at the ceremony, and is blessed by Indra and Varuna, and Harishchandra's ceremony is also completed.

In the Indian epic Ramayana, Vishvamitra is the preceptor of Rama, prince of Ayodhya and the seventh Avatara of Vishnu, and his brother Lakshmana.

There are two Gothras, or lineages, bearing the name of Visvamitra.

Visvamitra Gothra off shoots

People belonging to the Visvamitra Gothra consider Brahmarishi Visvamitra as their ancestor.

There is an off-shoot of "Vishvamitra Gothra" called "Chakita Vishvamitra Gothra more likely, explanation, is that a group of descendants decided to split from the main group and started their own branch of this line.

People belonging to Kaushika (Kaushik/ Kousika/Kousikasa/Koushika/Kausika) Gothra take Rajarishi Kausika as their root.

Kausika was one of the names of Visvamitra.11 Royal clans of 96 clan of Marathas belong to Kaushik Gothra including the illustrious house of Shivaji and Rashtrakutas

Some brahmins in South Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh also have Kaushik/Koushik as a family Gothra. Some of the kumauni region brahmin like Bhatt also belongs to Kaushik Gothra.

4. VASISTHA GOTHRA

Vasistha, in Hindu mythology was one of the Saptarishis (Seven Great Sages Rishi) in the seventh, i.e the present Manvantara,[1] and the Rajpurohit / Rajguru of the Suryavamsha or Solar Dynasty. He was the manasaputra of Brahma. He had in his possession the divine cow Kamadhenu, and Nandini her child, who could grant anything to their owners.

Arundhati is the name of the wife of Vashisht Vashisht is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the Rigveda. Vashisht and his family are glorified in RV 7.33.

Sage Vashishtha was Ram's guru and the Rajpurohit of "Ikshwaku" dynasty. He was a peace loving, selfless, intelligent and great Rishi. He had established Gurukula (residential college) on the banks of river "Saraswati", where he and his wife "Arundhati" were taking care of thousands of students stayed there and studied there and Vashishtha Rishi was the chief principal. 

Regarding sage VASISTHA not much familiar points are only  told. It is taken for granted readers are familiar to VASISTHA too  much than other sages.

DILEEPA EPISODE

King Dileepa was a king of the Raghuvamsha dynasty. He had a wife named Sudakshina, but they had no children. For this reason, Dileepa visited the sage Vashisht in his ashram, and asked him for his advice. Vashisht replied that they should serve the cow Nandini, child of Kamadhenu, and perhaps if Nandini was happy with their service, she would grant them with a child .after worship he got a son.

YOGAVASISTHA

Members seeing the serial “Engae brahminan” in Jeya TV may be recollecting the compliment of book Yogavasistha to Ashok during his upanayanam. Yoga Vasistha is an ancient scripture narrated by sage Vasistha to Rama. A unique and an extremely profound discourse, that provides innumerable insights and secrets to the inner world of consciousness. This extremely huge scripture (English translation about 6.5 Mb) covers all the topics that relate to the spiritual study of a seeker.

Rama, the eldest son of Dasaratha, after completing a pilgrimage of holy places returns to the palace. After his return, he is constantly found wandering lost in thought and completely disenchanted with the worldly life and the pleasures of the kingdom Vasistha asks for Rama to be brought before him.

Rama is then brought to the palace and Dasaratha asks him what is bothering him. Rama then explains his disenchantment with worldly things and expresses sadness at the miserable life as a worldly man.

The ensuing answer to Rama's questions forms the entire scripture that is Yoga Vasistha.

After the flood of the matsya avataram, Vasishtha and his wife Arundhati  may have had a hermitage on the banks of the river Saraswati, but they spent a lot of time at Ayodhya, the capital of the Kosala kingdom .

Arundhati was a lot younger than Vasishtha. While at Ayodhya, Vasishtha not only taught Sri Rama, but was an advisor to his father, Dasaratha as well. Vasishtha was a contemporary of King Nimi (Janaka’s Poorvaja (previous born)) and Gautama Mahrashi.

5. VADULA GOTHRA

Vadula was a Rishi who gave his name to a Gothra, or a line of descent, commonly amongst Brahmins. Vadula Maharishi was reportedly prone to great distraction, which some ascribe to deep, consciousness-expanding meditation.

NOTE:- Nothing more  than this I could collect of this sage. I request learnt members to add to my write up .

6. UPAMANYU GOTHRA

The Kambojas are a very ancient Kshatriya tribe of the north-western parts of the Indian subcontinent, of what now forms north-eastern Afghanistan and southern parts of Tajikstan. Upamanyu was one such Rsi of Kamboja lineage who finds frequent mention in ancient Indian texts like Rig Veda, several Puranas and the epic Mahabharata.

Upamanyu is the name of a Vedic Rsi who finds reference in Book I, Hymn 102. 9 of the Rig Veda [4], Siva Purana, Linga Purana, Kurma Purana and also in Adi Parava [7] as well as in Anushasana Parava of epic Mahabharata [8] [9].

Upamanyu’s Guru was  so pleased with him that he blessed him with instant memory and told him that he will know the Vedas and Dharamshashtras (other religious texts) automatically without any effort.

Scholars including S. K. De, N. Chaudhury write that 'Upamanyu was also the epic promulgator of the Shaivism.

His hermitage was in the mountains of Himalayas [13]. His father was the sage Vyaghrapada [14 Upamanyu, a pupil of Ayoda Dhaumya also received his Vedic education at Taksasila.

Upamanyu had heard of Shiva in several forms from his mother and afterward, recited to Krsna the thousand and eight names of Shiva [33].

The people with Upamanyu Gothra live in far western part of Nepal and eastern Parts of Jammu & Kashmir. They are basically present just below the Mount Kailash as they pray to Lord Shiva only. However, according to Dr D. C. Sircar, Upamanyu Gothra is not found in early Sanskrit literature and it is difficult to determine at this time whether it is a mistake for Aupamanyava Gothra [46].

Upamanya Gothra is  said to be an offshoot of the Vrigu (Parasara) Gothras. This means that a Rishi hailing from the Kamboja tribe was also founder of a Brahmanical class....... People staying just below or the South (Eastern & Weastern) parts of Mount Kailash (Nepal & India) are the descendants of Upamanyu/Upamanyu Gothra.

The Kambhojas (Upamanyu Gothra) can be easily identified as they are fair and have colorful eyes (Yellow, light blue, light brown) with a bit broader Forehead & nose, possibly due to admixture.

Praying to Lord Shiva every Monday is a routine for all Kambhoja/Upamanyu Gothra (all clans). A visit to Lord Shiva's Temple every Monday is a must for every Upamanyu Gothra. Kambhojas/Upamanayu Gothra pray to Lord Shiva and Durga Maa is their Kula Devi.

The earliest mention of Kambojas occurs in Vamsa Brahamana of Samaveda where a teacher Kamboja Aupamanyava is referred to. The sage Upamanyu mentioned in the Rigveda (i.102,9) is in all probability the father of this Kamboja teacher .

7. SHAUNAKA GOTHRA

Shaunaka is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda He is claimed as the teacher of Katyayana and especially of Ashvalayana, and is said to have united the Bashkala and Shakala Shakhas of the Rigveda. In legend, he is sometimes identified with Gritsamada, a Vedic Rishi.

According to the Vishnu Purana, Shaunaka was the son of Gritsamada, and invented the system of the four levels of human life.

Shaunaka had a prominent role in the epic Mahābhārata. The epic Mahābhārata was narrated to Shaunaka by a story teller named Ugrasrava Sauti during a conclave of sages headed by Shaunaka in a forest named Naimisha.

8. SANKRITHI GOTHRA

Sankrithi is the Grandson of Sage Vashishta, and the son of Sage Shakthi. Incidentally, Sage Shakthi is the father of Sage Parashara (the father of Sage Veda Vyasa.)

There is not much known about Sage Sankrithi except that his name figures in the Avadhuta Upanishad, where Lord Dattatreya explains the nature of an Avadhuta to Sage Sankrithi., founder Rishi of the Sankrithi Gothra.

The lineage of Sankrithi's is given as Shakthya, Sankrithya, and Gauriveetha. i.e. lineage of Shakthi, Sankrithi, and Gauriveethi.

NOTE:- Nothing more  than this I could collect of this sage. I request learnt members to add to my write up.