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 ||
Wika ni Parāśara: “O hari, sa pasimula ay apat lamang ang mga unang angkan (gotra) na lumitaw—Aṅgiras, Kaśyapa, Vasiṣṭha, at Bhṛgu. Ang iba pang mga gotra ay sumibol kalaunan ayon sa gawi at tungkulin ng tao. Ang mga angkang iyon at ang kanilang mga pangalan ay naging tanyag at pinarangalan sa hanay ng mga matuwid, sapagkat ang mga dakilang rishi na nagtatag sa kanila ay nagkamit ng dangal sa pamamagitan ng tapas at pagpipigil-sa-sarili.”
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.