Skanda Purana — Brahma Khanda, Shloka 27
जज्ञिरे बहवः पुत्राः शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः । चतुर्विशतिमुख्यानां नामानि प्रवदामि ते । द्विजानामृषयः प्रोक्ताः प्रवराणि तथा शृणु
jajñire bahavaḥ putrāḥ śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ | caturviśatimukhyānāṃ nāmāni pravadāmi te | dvijānāmṛṣayaḥ proktāḥ pravarāṇi tathā śṛṇu
De nombreux fils naquirent, par centaines et même par milliers. Je te dirai les noms des vingt-quatre gotras principaux ; écoute aussi les ṛṣi proclamés et les pravara des deux-fois-nés.
Vyāsa
Listener: A questioning interlocutor (typically another ṛṣi or attentive dvija audience)
Scene: A calm forest-āśrama teaching scene: a senior ṛṣi enumerates gotras and pravaras to attentive dvijas, with palm-leaf manuscripts and sacrificial implements nearby.
FAQs
Remembering gotras and pravaras is a dharmic act that safeguards ritual identity and continuity of Vedic tradition.
Dharmāraṇya is the contextual sacred region where these lineages are being catalogued as part of its māhātmya.
Pravara is referenced—used in Vedic rites to invoke ancestral seers—though the verse does not prescribe a specific ceremony.