Shloka 17
विदेहराज! मेरे पितामह वसिष्ठजी, काश्यप-गोत्रीय ऋष्यशुड्र, वेद, ताण्ड्य, कृप, कक्षीवानू, कमठ आदि, यवक्रीत, वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ द्रोण, आयु, मतंग, दत्त, ट्रपद तथा मत्स्य >-ये सब तपस्याका आश्रय लेनेसे ही अपनी-अपनी प्रकृतिको प्राप्त हुए थे। इन्द्रियसंयम और तपसे ही वे वेदोंके विद्वान् तथा समाजमें प्रतिष्ठित हुए थे ।। मूलगोत्राणि चत्वारि समुत्पन्नानि पार्थिव । अज्िरा: कश्यपश्चैव वसिष्ठो भूगुरेव च,पृथ्वीनाथ! पहले अंगिरा, कश्यप, वसिष्ठ और भृगु--ये ही चार मूल गोत्र प्रकट हुए थे। अन्य गोत्र कर्मके अनुसार पीछे उत्पन्न हुए हैं। वे गोत्र और उनके नाम उन गोत्र-प्रवर्तक महर्षियोंकी तपस्यासे ही साधु-समाजमें सुविख्यात एवं सम्मानित हुए हैं
mūlagotrāṇi catvāri samutpannāni pārthiva | aṅgirāḥ kaśyapaś caiva vasiṣṭho bhṛgur eva ca ||
Parāśara said: “O king, in the beginning only four original lineages (gotras) came forth—Aṅgiras, Kaśyapa, Vasiṣṭha, and Bhṛgu. The other gotras arose later in accordance with conduct and vocation. These lineages and their names became widely known and honored among the virtuous because their founding sages attained distinction through austerity and self-restraint.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse grounds social and spiritual prestige in tapas (austerity) and self-restraint rather than mere birth: the foundational gotras are traced to great seers, and later lineages are said to arise according to karma/role, becoming respected through the ascetic merit of their founders.
Parāśara instructs the king of Videha about the origins of gotras, naming four primordial lineages (Aṅgiras, Kaśyapa, Vasiṣṭha, Bhṛgu) and explaining that other gotras developed later in relation to conduct and were honored due to the austerities of their originating sages.