do descendants of saints exist? edited

i have this question when my dad watched the show and said rishi kashyap is our family's ancestor.
seriously or is it just a myth?
guess that's why i am a shiv-bhakt since childhood.😕

from the replies, it seems people from kashyapa gotra are my sisters ( and brothers ) 🤗. anybody here?

Edited by ary42 - 11 years ago

Your family Gotra indicates which Rishi  you have descended from. In your case it would be Kaashayapa Gotra.  It is not a myth. Edited by varaali - 11 years ago

Originally posted by: varaali

Your family Gotra indicates which Rishi  you have descended from. In your case it would be Kaashayapa Gotra.  It is not a myth.

thanks for info. yes i'm kashayapa-gotra but never thought on it.

then that means that your ancestor was Rishi Kashyap.

Even one of my ancestor is a Rishi but I cannot remember his name :)

The gotra classification took form probably sometime during the Yajur Veda period, after the Rig Veda period. The present day gotra classification is created from a core of 8 rishis (The Saptha rishis + Agastya). The Seven rishis are Gautama, Bhardwaja, Vishwamitra, Jamadagni, Vasistha, Kashyapa and Atri. Seven Rishis (Saptarshi) are recognized as the mind born sons of the creator Brahma. They desired offspring and received it.

Over the years the number of gotras incresed due to:

Descendents of these Rishis also started new family lineage or new gotras (Kaundinya was a descendent of Vasihta, Vishwamitra was a descendent of Kaushika and Vatsa was a descendent of Jamadagni)

By inter marriage with other Brahmins

Inspired by a saint whose name they bear as their own Gotra.

• New groups like Kshatriyas (who were also makers of hymns) were taken into fold by some Rishis

These Rishis belonged to different sects like Shakti, Shavites and Vishnavites and had different deities for worship. Such deities came to be known as the Kuladevatas.

Importance of Gotras

The gotra system was instituted for the purposes of identifying one's ancestors and pay respects during various invocations and other rituals to honor their fathers, fore-fathers and so on, up to their respective Rishis. This was later extended to other aspects of the Brahmin life, such as Marriage and temple worship. In present days, marriage will not be allowed within the same gotra in order to avoid impure matrimony. This thinking is in tune with the modern day genetic paradigms of hybrid vigor.

 

Edited by mnx12 - 11 years ago

i am from shandilya gotra..was there any rishi named shandilya???i never heard

Hey ya even my uncle also said that!!! he said rishi vashista aur vishwamitr is the ancestor I remember coerectly !! but our gotr is kaushik!! are there any sub categories?

Originally posted by: aru_86

i am from shandilya gotra..was there any rishi named shandilya???i never heard

there was a female sage named shandilyaa. i read garuda had a crush on her.
maybe her descendants are called shandilya gotra.

@aru and ary42 no its not a female shandilya is the grandson of rishi kashyapa and the founder of the gotr

At some places 16 rishis are mentioned, giving their names