what will be your feeling at the temple when you are asked to tell your "gothram"?

Question

in hindu temples of south india it is the practice before offering prayers and dharshan, the poojari (one who performs pooja and archana) will ask for the godram of the devotee so that he conducts the archana or pooja to god. i understand that the concept of maintaining godhram is prevalent among only upper caste particularly with brahmins only. i also observed the rest of the community devotess tell "siva gothram" to do the pooja. i could infer the following from the above practice in temples:
1.one who does not have or does not know the godhram is nowhere before god?
2.to my understanding godhram represents one's sect or subsect to the community to which he/she belongs and it represents the name of male forefather of rishi's name (i am not very sure).
3.if godhram represents caste or sub caste does it not shamful for anybody who does not know one's godhram.
4.what sanctity is attached to this practice.
5.if i dont have the gothram, am i an outcaste or a chandalan before god.

i wish to put forth my question on yahoo answers platform to share my views and understand others views and absolutely nothing of malice.does god recognises only based on the gothram ?i believe this practice will bring fragmentation among human beings in sanctum sanctorium and bring cleavage among devotees. one need not know Sanscrit to understand god because the above language is not known by most of the common hindus in southern part of india. i expect a reply to my obeservation that having gothram is prevalent among only with few upper caste hindus and majority of the hindu lot does not have the practice of maintaining gothram.Subrmania Bharathiar(A great poet and freedom fighter in tamil nadu) has vehemently criticised the fragmentation of people based on their castes. if he is wrong, it is great malice we are bringing to a great leader in indian freedom history.if gothram is not denoting caste, then why it is not preached to all the hindus to have one for each. is it permissible

Answer 1

This is a man made idea. Only to put froth prestige. This has nothing to do with real spirituality. This is a mundane religious dogma. Then if you don't know your gotram then say the name of God because He is your original father. Our birth father is our material father and many fathers are less than Sudra's so best to put the eternal Father, God Also known as Krishna, Allah, Jehovah, Vishnu, Rama, Elohim, etc.) first. This is where religion becomes material. God is not bound to India though He did appear there. So many people don't even what a gothram is in USA or other countries, Does that mean they can not know God. When religion becomes mundane (bound by material designation)is when it is time to move on. My Gothram is Gopala (because He is my everything.)(I made it up) now am I qulaitified) (Gopala is an eternal name of God)
We are not these bodies IE; race, color, nationality, religions, mind, intellect, job status, etc. We are all eternal spirit souls part and parcel of the Supreme Soul (God) named above. Your God is my God. World Peace!

Answer 2

As far as I know the Gothram refers to which family tree you originated from and its the name of a rishi, Kashyap, Vishwamithra etc. This means that people who say kahsyap as gothra their oldest known ancestor is kashyap rishi and they should avoid marrying in same gothram to ensure healthy genetic crossing.

It should be a matter of scientific study if there is indeed genetic similarities between people of same gothram though now it may not be so relevant since we should be a thousand generations away from original rishis.

If you say your gothram is shiva then you are effectively saying that your oldest known ancestor is Shiva.

Its needed during prayers because the good karmas of a prayer/pooja gets shared by all ancestors from your gothram, which is what your duty is.

So when you say Shiva , you are doing favor to the entire humanity.

Answer 3

You seem to be labouring under some misunderstanding .If somebody aks the name of your father, what do you think? Do you think that he suspects the chastityof your mother ?gothram is simple the school that yu belong to.this is asked for identification .-specification of yur identity while offeering prayer to Go on yur behalf .since you do not tell the manthra and sanskrit refruses to come into your mouth , the priests does the prayer for you , so he says that the offering is made on behalf of so and so born of so and so at such and such natshaktra and belonging to such and such school ( gothram) of such and such rihsi .If you do not want ot be identified , it is open to yu to tell him todo it anonymously and without mentioing your or identity.
It is not ony you , but many people seem to have some such grievance born out of total ignorance of sanskrit or the nature of the temple rituals . you are not alone .You ar a drop in the ocean of such Hindus .who make themselves chandalas before everybody including the God .
so also you seem to be ignorant of varuna and caste .all this proiblemarises onaccout of the lack of knowledge of sabnskrit and the misinformation spread by the atheistic political partties of South India who are clandestinely practising all Hindu rituals .Ask the DMK chief why he has given up the black colour and taken to the saffron colour towel .Ask him also why his grnd children are educated through the English medium while he is advocating all Tamilians to learn through the ''Tamil; medium.Ask Stalin where he son was studying .and what course he has studied .Ask karunanighi how he writes the nme of his son stalin in Tamil.Does he write it in Tamil or ignores the Vadai mozhi letter of the sound "s".he does nt write it in shuddha ?Tamil as "Itchtalin" .you have no letter to produce the sound "S" while yu make fuss about the letter "Zha"
Idiotic prejudices are blunting the brains of the people in Tamil nadu..

Answer 4

I'll probably have to ask what the hell a gothram is, after that my anticipation of the feelings I might have, should such a day arrive, are kind of up in the air at this point.

Answer 5

Gothra is the name of the family traces their lineage back to one of the original rishis of the Vedas. Not only the descentands of the rishi also the students who accept the rishi as their guru also belong to that gothra. But westerners and south indian cannot know their lineange regarding the rishi. So whoever dont know the gothra can use shiva kothra because shiva is the lord of everyone. Also everyone can use the “Kashyapa” as a gotra. From the perspective of the vedic tradition, Kashyapa was the father of the devas and asuras and and all of humanity. He is married to Aditi with whom he is the father of Agni. He is also the father of Surya, the sun.

So from that perspective, those who forget or dont know the gothras can use kashyapa kothra.

Answer 6

(1) Everybody has a Gothram--It is not based on Caste or sub-caste.The question is who is somebody's earliest ancestor?-There is nothing to feel ashamed about telling somebody's earliest ancestor,if known. In North India many people do not know- they use the word "Amuka(ancestor's face not known) Gothram"--In South India many people know it and they tell.

(2) Now the question is what is the sanctity.?- Two kinds of people go to Temples. One set of Devotees are Nishkaamya Karthaas=O! lord!! I do not ask YOU for any particular favour. I have just come to worship YOU and for Your Audience(Dharsanam)-Another type is Kaamyam= O! lord please fulfill my (righteous=Dharmam) particular desire..It (Kaama Ishty = fulfillment of desire) is permitted in the Religious Texts(one of the Purushaartham--Dharmam-Artham- Kaamam-Moksham (only persons with VERY poor Sanskrit knowledge translate "Kaamamm" as "Sex"--Kaamam simply means Desire-any kind od desire.)--ONLY Kaamya Karthaas have to "Identify themselves" (Gothram) when they perform an "Yagjna"(it can be simple Archana=prasing the Lord with 108 or 1008 names. Abhishekam-Aaraadhana-Alankaaram (arranging to bathe the Idol with fragrant materials-adorning the Idols with a lot of fragrant flowers/temple ornaments-rathotsavam = arranging to take the idol in procession around the Temple in Temple’s Gold/Silver chariot(by paying a fixed fee) etc---there the devotees use to identify themselves with their descendancy (Gothram)- Some people use to say to Preist "You perform in the name of God'--that seems "Illogical" when the devotee goes to a temple with a desire ,why to put on GOD's head the buren-GOD is above any kind of "Wants"---when Saluting very learned people or Very elderly people(80-85 years old) also one is supposed to identify himself/herself with their Gothram(in case of Males "Gothrasya" and in case of females "Gothraayaahaa"--many ,many preists are "Ignorant" of this Sanskrit grammer and they use to blaber the Gender)- or “Pravaram” .Even in English Cinema ,in security regions they use to ask “Identify yourself”.In Hindi Cinema –“Aapkaa Parichai”?—

"Vyaasam Vasista Naphthaaram,Shkthay Poutra Mahalmasham,Paraachaarthmajam Vanday Sukha Dhaatam Taponidhim."

=One who possess the wealth of Penance- Sri.Sukha Brahmam is the son of sri.Vyasa Bhagavan,(whom I salute) who in turn is the Great grandson of sri.Vasista, Grandson of Sri.Sakthi, son of sri .Paraachara( that identity is Pravaram and Gothram is a sub-unit of that.

I think there is nothing wrong in it..

Answer 7

If you had a "gothram" you would not be asking this.
You would proudly tell it to the priest.
This leaves the rest of us wondering about the reasons for your question.
Malice?
For not having of remembering your "gothram".

By the way is it "gothram", 'godram' or 'godhram'?
You appear to have such a poor memory on the correct spelling of a simple word.
This may be the reason why you have forgotten the name of your gothram/godram/godhram.

Answer 8

No, every family has a gothram, but yes, it can determine one's caste. I'm hindu and have been asked my gothram several times and I know it. Every family as a gothram. If they don't then they probably forgot it.

Answer 9

You are either in accord and peace with the world, akin to peace with your maker. It is summed in the purification of the soul prior to entering the holy spirit, purgatory is a wholly different form. Some seek To make peace with God, the world or the self. The three are one, a reconciliation where one is in accord with the self and world, not submissive or bowed in order to amass popularity or in an effort to conform, but with a harmonious kinship born of understanding, and the ability to look upon th eworld with a god like eye.

Answer 10

Shiva Gothram