In the recent controversy around Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Gandhi in a religious procession in Pushkar named himself as a Kashmiri Kaul Brahmin with Dattatreya Gotra.
But other political parties are saying that it is all a political stunt in wake of the 2019 general elections.
So let us find out if what Rahul Gandhi said was true.
What Is Gotra
“Gotra” is a Sanskrit word which means “lineage” and every member of a Hindu clan is assigned a gotra on his birth which depends on the gotra of his father since lineage in Hinduism runs by the name of the father.
It is considered in Hinduism that the all the Hindus trace their lineage to Sapt Rishi (a particular sage). A person gets the name of one of the Sapt Rishis as his gotra, assuming that he is from the clan of that Rishi.
With the evolution of society, the number of gotras also increased. Since the person we are talking about here claims himself to be a Brahmin, here are the gotras of Brahmins:
Angiras, Gautama, Bharadwaja, Vishvamitra, Vasistha, Kashyapa, Atri and Agastya.
Apart from these, there are 49 other gotras known as pravaras, but neither of them consists of Dattatreya. ( See the list of the gotras and pravaras here)
Who Are Kaul Brahmin
The word Kaul is derived from the Sanskrit word Kula meaning family or clan. It is used as a surname by the Kashmiri Pundits. It is a derivative of the ancient name Kaula which means well-born and is related to the Saivite beliefs.
Jawaharlal Nehru was a Kaul Brahmin. His surname was Nehru because a canal used to flow near his house because of which his family became famous by the name of Nehru family, which later was recognized as their surname.
But it must be noted that in the Hindu setup, a child gets the name of the father. Since the grandfather of Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Firoz Gandhi was a Parsi, therefore, he cannot be called a Kaul Brahmin.
In Hindus, lineage runs by the name of the father and since the grandfather of Rahul Gandhi was a Parsi by birth and religion, he is to be considered as a Parsi and not as a Kaul Brahmin.
Who Was Lord Dattatreya
Lord Dattatreya or Lord Datta is a Hindu Deity who is the representation of the Divine Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Lord Shiva). The word Dattatreya is formed by two Sanskrit words: ‘Datta‘ meaning given and ‘Atreya‘ who is one of the Sapt Rishis and the biological father of Lord Dattatreya.
In the Nath Tradition of Hinduism, Lord Datta is considered to be the reincarnation of Lord Shiva and is known as the Adi-Shankaracharya or the First Teacher of Adinath Sampradaya of Nath Sect.
An Akhaada in Hinduism is the clan of saints and a saint finds his spiritual lineage in an Akhaada.
Lord Dattatreya is the Ishta-Dev of the Acharya of the largest and oldest of the 13 Akhaadas in the Hindu tradition, i.e. the Juna Akhaada, which increases his importance in the Hindu religion even more.
Since Lord Dattatreya was the son of one of the Sapt Rishis, he must have acquired his gotra from him, thus, his gotra must have been Atreya. Moreover, there is no such gotra or pravara for Hindus by the name of Dattatreya Gotra and thus, maybe, Mr. Gandhi had made a mistake in naming his gotra which has ultimately landed him in another controversy.
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Sources: Geni.Com, Temple Purohit, Trace Your Lineage
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Your post is not correct as far as he being parsi. As per parsi law both father and mother of the child have to be parsi for the child to be a parsi. on the other hand in hindu law there is nothing such as that father has to be a hindu. so naturally Rajeev Gandhi follows religion and caste of his mother indira gandhi. since Rahul gandhi is not baptised as per roman catholic religion of his mother he is hindu like his father. only as far as being of dattatraya gotra only kashmiri pundits can explain about their gotra system.
Funny comments
i found same news on other site which is having a detail explanation
Comments of Sriniwasa is not correct as per Hindu Norms of North India. Gotra of Father goes to the son and daughter, not of mother. So the logic put by him nor correct.
Not sure about Rahul Gandhi’s surname but I am a Koul Brahmin and we always say our gotra as Dattatreya in any religious ceremony.
What I can say is that either you can believe in Gothra system or not is your choice.
If you choose not to believe in it decision is made that the person is not a dattatreya.
If one believes in it then it comes from the lineage of sapthrishis. All the sapthrishis were men to the best of my knowledge. So they could have been only fathers. So depending on grand-mothers gothra is not a choice. What Mrs. Inira Gandhi’s gothra was does not matter for Rahul.
Now we come to the gothra of Rahul’s father. He was a Parsi or whatever he was is best known to the Gandhi family. So having a hindu gothra is ruled out. In fact being a Brahmin is also not a possibility for Rahul janab. So let us not be a pappu and believe in Rahul’s antics.
Oh! Gandhi is a Gujarati surname and so being Kashmiri has to be sacrificed for getting privelege of using the surname of the Father of the nation.
So Kashmiri brahmin of Dattatreya Gothra is not possible for you, Mr. Rahul even after having so much of money , fame and power (at least till some time back).
But not having any of the above mentioned privileges, still I am having all that you Mr. Gandhi are dreaming of. I am a Kashmiri Kaul brahmin and my gothra is Dattatreya.
For a person dreaming to be on the highest post of the largest democracy, something to be understood is that get your facts correct before you speak.
At this time a sanskrit shloka will serve the purpose of educating Mr. Gandhi. “Tavat shobnam m—– yaavat sa na bhaaste”.
Meaning expressed in parliamentary language:
A wise man thinks before speaking. If this is not adhered to he shows true acumen.
My name is Ankush Koul and I am a kashmiri pandit from dattatreya Gotra. I am not sure Rahul Gandhi is Koul Brahmin or not but there is a Dattatreya Gotra which majority of Kohl’s of kashmir belong to.