Shloka 17
अव्यक्त-प्रबोधः (Awakening to the Unmanifest): The 25th and 26th Principles and Eligibility for Brahma-vidyā
विदेहराज! मेरे पितामह वसिष्ठजी
mūlagotrāṇi catvāri samutpannāni pārthiva | aṅgirāḥ kaśyapaś caiva vasiṣṭho bhṛgur eva ca ||
मूलगोत्राणि चत्वारि समुत्पन्नानि पार्थिव । अङ्गिराः कश्यपश्चैव वसिष्ठो भृगुरेव च ॥ अन्यानि कर्मतो गोत्राणि पश्चात्समुत्थितानि वै । तपसा दमयोगेन ख्यातिं जग्मुः सतां सभि ॥
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.