Introduction to Hinduism (Part 3)

Introduction to Hinduism (Part 3)

The Many Gods and Goddesses of HinduismIt is difficult to characterize Hinduism as a polytheistic religion because Hindus not only worship multiple divinities but also Brahman, the Highest and Supreme Universal Self, as the creator, sustainer and the Lord of all. The one Supreme God is believed to manifest Himself in the form of many gods and goddesses, such as Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Lakshmi, Parvathi, Saraswathi, Indra, Varuna, Mitra and so on. At the same time the divinities are perceived and worshipped as Brahman only in their ultimate essence.They are looked upon as His innumerable forms and functional aspects, who along with Prakriti or Nature carry out the different tasks of God's creative plan and execute His blue print of the universe.

Brahman is described in the Hindu scriptures as both immanent and transcendental.In His transcendental aspect He is described as the known and the unknown and also as one withqualities (saguna Brahman) and without qualities (nirguna Brahman). In His unified and absolute aspect He is Parameswara (the Highest Lord) and in His creative and functional aspect He is Iswara (the universal Lord).In addition to gods and goddesses, in Hinduism we also come across the worship of many objectssuch as trees, plants, rivers, lakes, snakes, hills, the various planets, some stars, constellations,the sun, the moon and so on. Many saints, babas and sages also are objects of their veneration. In the Vaishnava tradition, the images of God are also considered divine and aspects of God only having various levels of His potency.The Hindus worship the gods and goddesses variously adding further complexity to the manner of worship in Hinduism. They may worship them all or only some of them at a time, or venerate each of them separately as the Supreme God himself.Generally, the present trend is that most of the Hindus believe and worship many gods simultaneously in the hope of receiving blessingsfrom many of them.

Sometimes this may even create confusion in their minds as to whom to worship in a given situation. But most of them resolve these problems in their own individual ways.There are traditions according to which each Hindu god is to be worshipped on a particular day in a week, month or year and many follow these traditions. There are certain specific rules and regulations to be observed by the devout Hindus while worshipping them, which involve performance of specific rites, rituals and chanting. Many observe these rules with great sincerity.Polytheism is an integral part of Hinduism, despite of opposition from certain intellectual quarters over the centuries. After contacts with Islam and the Christianity of the British, attempts were made by some educated Hindus like Raja Rammohan Roy and Keshab Chandrasen to discourage polytheism.The reformist movements like Brahmo Samaj andthe Arya Samaj were products of such a reaction. But their impact did not last long as is evident from the way present day Hindus visit the templesand worship various gods, observe the festivals and celebrate the glory of gods and goddesses, perform pujas and vratas whenever the occasion demands.They may listen to numerous discourses delivered by enlightened persons, go through numerous books on religion, but they hold their gods and goddesses to their chests dearly and worship them with deep devotion and sublime faith. There is a certain purity of approach and innocence of faith in this practice that is rarely seen elsewhere.The average modern Hindu, who is devoted to his religion is very clear in his mind as to his approach in this matter. He worships the gods and goddesses because he believes in them and is sure of their existence in the higher worlds of God's creation.He conducts himself in tune with the supposed expectations of his beloved gods. For him life without them is simply a sacrilege, which he is sure he cannot afford. It is not the for the sake of society or family, though that is not entirely absent, but for himself and his own welfare he worships them and holds them with highest regard in his mind.On a given day a devout Hindu, may worship his gods or goddesses in the morning, noon or in the evening or whenever he chooses to, even while his mind is busy with worldly matters. He may worship them in the comforts of his own house or visit the near by temple or shrine.In the past there were violent clashes and heated debates among groups of devotees worshipping different gods as was the case between Vaishanavites and Shivites. But presently there seems to be a total reconciliation and integration of these divergent beliefs into one acceptable whole. Today a majority of the Hindus accept different gods whole heartedly as a part of one large Divine family without any sense of conflict or rancor in their minds.The gods belong to different worlds and planes ofexistence and assist the mankind in various ways.

At the highest level are the Trinity, namely Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha, each ruling a particular divine kingdom.Brahma is the creator, who rules Brahmaloka, (the world of Brahma), and engages Himself in the process of creating forms and breathing life force into them. For various reasons Brahma is not worshipped the way the other two gods of trinity are worshipped. There are in fact very few temples built in his honor.But his consort Saraswati, who is the goddess of learning is worshipped by many, especially the students or the brahmacharis of the Vedic schools. She is frequently found in the company of Ganesha and Sri Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and the consort of Lord Vishnu, and receives honors and prayers along with them.Vishnu is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the worlds and looking after their welfare. He rules Vaikunth. He has a number of followers all over the world who venerate Him as the Supreme Lord. A number of temples have alsobeen built in His honor right from the post Mary period.Though He was a minor deity in the early Vedic period, He became very popular with the rise of Vaishnavism during the subsequent periods. Some of His incarnations are also worshipped in many parts of India and they attract wider following among people than Himself as Vishnu.Most famous among his incarnations are Lord Rama and Lord Krishna, the heroes of the epics, the Ramayana and the Bhagawatha. They have millions of devotees all over the world. Lord Balaji, is also equally famous. His temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh is reckoned to be therichest in the world and attracts huge number of devotees throughout the year.Lord Vishnu is also worshipped as Dhananjaya, Narayana, Anantasayana, Kapila, Narasimha, Varadaraja, Srinivasa and Jagannatha (of Puri temple).His consort Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth is equally popular. She is worshipped in many households regularly, especially by the seekers ofartha or material wealth. She is also worshipped variously as Padma, Kamala, Sita, Narasimhi, Varuni etc.Lord Siva is the destroyer of the world's. He is the supreme yogi who is easy to be pleased. He is as popular as Lord Vishnu and He is the chief deity of Shaivism which also became popular in the same period as Vaishnavism.In fact a long rivalry existed between the two, each side claiming their supreme deity to be the Supreme Lord of the universe. While Vaishnavism caught the imagination of the householders and seekers of material comforts, Saivism caught the imagination of the renunciates and seekers of knowledge. Today both these gods are extremely popular across the length and breadth of Hindu society.References to Siva can be found in the Rigveda where in He is referred as Rudra, the god of anger.According to some Siva is not the same as the Rudra of the Vedas. Whatever may be the truth, Siva is also known as Rudra because of His nature to show bouts of occasional temper.His anger is the anger of righteousness, not to be confused with the petty anger of the human beings. It is born of out of a specific divine purpose, to destroy something in order to create something new. It is the manifestation of an energy whose intent is to create purity of purpose and harmony of structure in the object of destruction, but not to destroy some thing for the sake of destruction only. He is the destroyer of negativism and egoism and purifier of the consciousness with His abundant grace.He resides in kailash atop an icy mountain. The ice signifies the ignorance of a frozen and static consciousness (the waters of Hindu scriptures). The word "Si" means cool (sheetal) and the word" va " to live (vasa). The word "Siva" therefore means, He who lives on the top of cool mountains( of frozen consciousness).He is not worshipped generally in his original physical form (as a mula murthi), but mainly as Shiva Linga, the phallic symbol signifying creation as the combination of Purusha and Prakriti. He is also worshipped variously as Nataraja, Dakshinamurthy,Ardhanarishwara, Virabhadra, Chandeswar, Pathaleswara etc,.Many Hindus worship the navagrahas or the nineplanets mainly to ward off adversity and evil influences. Generally they are not worshipped in homes but in temples. These planet gods play a key role in Hindu astrology.The navagrahas are : 1. Surya (the sun), 2. Soma or the moon, 3. Managala, Kuja or Angaraka, (mars), 4. Budha (Mercury), 5. Brihaspati (Jupiter), 6. Sukra (Venus), 7. Sani (Saturn), 8. Rahu and 9. Ketu. People generally worship theseplanet gods to appease them and ward off evil and negative influences.The Ashtadikpalas or rulers of the eight directionsalso need special mention. They are not generallyworshipped as individual deities but addressed in many invocations, as a part of some important rituals and Vedic ceremonies.

They also play a vital role in Vasthu Shastra (the science of construction). East is ruled by Indra, west by Varuna, North by Kubera and South by Yama. Among the intermediate directions, north east is ruled by Iswara, north west by Niruthi, south east by Agni and south west by Vayu.The description would be incomplete without the mention of three deities who have become very popular in modern times, namely 1. Vignesha, theson of Siva and Parvathi, the leader of the devas, 2. Hanuman, of the Ramayana fame who is known for his devotion and love for Rama and 3. Karthikeya or Swami Ayyappa or Kumaraswami who is the second son of Shiva and Parvathi and has a wide following in many parts of India especially in the south.Worship of Divine Mother is equally popular in India. As the ruler and creator of the worlds she attracts a large following across the length and breadth of the country. She is worshipped both in her peaceful forms and her fierce forms. On the positive side, she is the personificationof love and peace, providing solace to Her devotees.Though She was known originally for her fierce form and association with esoteric rituals of tantricism, Shri Adi Shankaracharya brought her into the public glare through his famous work"Saundarya Lahari" and his travels to various parts of the country and made her acceptable to a majority of Hindus in Her most benign form as theMother of unbound love.Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, one of the greatest saints ever born on earth, proved throughhis own personal experience that any one with true devotion and purity of their hearts and minds can seek her blessings and guidance.She is worshipped as Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Uma or Parvathi. In her fierce forms she is worshipped as Kali, Karali, Bhairavi, Bhavani, Chandi, Durga etc. The many schools of tantrism regard Her as the Supreme Deity and worship Herin various manners.She is most popular as Goddess Durga in eastern India and elsewhere also. During the Durga Festival She is worshipped continuously on a grand scale for nine continuous days during which many devotees observe complete fasting, taking nothing but water during the whole period.The Hindu gods are real and true manifestation ofthe Supreme Self. They are a part of Hindu consciousness. They impart beauty, variety and charm to the very practice of religion. It is difficult to conceive of Hinduism without their presence.Hinduism and Caste SystemHinduism is a universal religion. Its primary emphasis is on universal brotherhood. It views the world as one family. It believes that man is divine in nature and realization of that supreme truth as the primary aim of all human activity. It istherefore unfortunate that for a very long time this religion of great antiquity has been in the clutchesa few privileged castes.It would be a great service to the cause of Hinduism if the present day Vedic teachers identify bright children from the lower castes and start teaching them the Vedas and the Upanishads and allow them to serve God in the temples of India. The strength of Christianity stems from dedicated missionaries who come from all sections of society. The weakness of Hinduism and of Hindu society is caste system, which divides people into divergent and bickeringgroups and keeps them apart.Perhaps there is no other nation in the world that is as openly and shamelessly as racial as India. To be born in an upper caste is a matter of pride whether the family to which a person belongs deserves it or not. A number of Indians who visit foreign countries often complain about being treated differently on account of their skin color oraccent. They overlook the fact that a vast number of people in their own country exhibit a far greaterobsession with accent, skin color and caste. Indian film stars put on white makeup, on the screen and off the screen, even if they are black, tolook acceptable and desirable. The country's democracy is not a true democracy, but castocracy, where people vote and leaders are elected on caste lines. The Indian political partiesthrive and succeed by appealing to this base emotion of people.There are countless scholars who justify Hindu caste system quoting chapter and verse from the scriptures, ignoring the fact that they were convenient interpolations or authored by bigoted scholars in an otherwise sacred lore to justify a cruel and unjust system using the very authority of God.Caste System has been the bane of Hindu society for centuries. In terms of impact, it did much greater damage for a much longer period to a great many people than the slave system of the western world or the witch-hunting practices of medieval Europe. The Hindu caste system was a clever invention of the later Vedic society, justifiedby a few law makers. The upper castes found it convenient to retain and perpetuate their social and religious distinction and political and economic advantage. With the exception of Saivism and a few ascetic traditions, most of the ancient sects of Hinduism were caste biased.The idea of staying away from unclean people is understandable in a society that was obsessed with the concept of physical and mental purity. There is nothing unusual with people who are selective in choosing their friends and relationships. It is normal behavior to stay away from people who are found to be socially deviant, untrustworthy or unfamiliar. It is an expression ofour social intelligence and self-preservation instinct. Personal hygiene, family background and financial status do matter today in society as it was thousands of years ago. But what was wrong with the Vedic society was it recognized inequalities among men based on birth and family lineage and proclaimed it to be the will of God. This line of thought was perpetuated by Vedic scholars for centuries through the authorityof scriptures and fear of divine retribution. They wrongfully created human stereotypes to justify a social structure that favored a few at the expense of many, denying a vast majority of people opportunities to use their inborn talents and pursue their own dreams and aspirations.What is the Caste System ?The Hindu caste system is unique in the world, but resembles in some ways Plato's ideal society of philosophers, warriors and commoners.

A caste is a division of society based on occupationand family lineage. Hindu caste system recognized four distinct classes or divisions among people based on these criteria and enforced it through a rigid code of conduct that was specific to each class and rooted in the dharmashastras (law books) of the later Vedic period. The four main castes recognized by traditional Hindu society based primarily on hereditary occupation are mentioned below.Brahmins. They are the priestly class, who are entitled to study the Vedas, perform rites and rituals for themselves and for others and obliged to observe the sacraments. They are the middle men between gods and men. The act as temple priests and invoke gods on behalf of others. They are expected to show exemplary behavior and spend their lives in the pursuit of divine knowledge and preservation of the traditions. According to Manu, the law maker, a Brahmin was an incarnation of dharma (sacred tradition), born to serve and protect the dharma. He belonged to the excellent of the human race, endowed with intelligence and knowledge to attain Brahman. He was the highest on earth, the lord of all created beings. Whatever that existed inthe world was the property of a Brahmana and he was entitled to all.Kshatriyas. They are the warrior class, who are commanded (by tradition) to protect the people, bestow gifts to the Brahmins, offer sacrifices to gods and ancestors, study the Vedas, dispense justice, and, according to Manusmriti, abstain themselves from sensual pleasures. Manu laid down that it was a king's duty to protect his kingdom and his people. He had something in himself of the gods such Indra, Vayu, Yama, Surya, Varuna, Moon and Kubera. A king should not be despised even if he was an infant. His authority should not be questioned except when he ignored his duties in supporting and protecting Brahmins. The king had the right to punish, but he must be fair in his punishment. It was king's responsibility to protect the caste system and the social order and lavish the priestswith generous gifts at every opportunity.Vaisyas: They are the merchant and peasant classes, who are expected to tend cattle, offer sacrifices, study the Vedas, trade, lend money andcultivate the land. They had the right to perform and participate in certain Vedic rituals but they were not allowed to marry women of higher castes.Shudras: The are the labor class, whose only dutyis to serve the other three castes. They were not required to observe any Vedic rituals or samskaras except a few. They were not allowed to study the Vedas or even hear the sacred chants. They were not allowed to eat food in the company of higher castes or marry their women.Chandalas: The lowest of the Shudras were called chandalas or the impure ones.

They were treated as untouchables because of their gory religious practices, penchant for sacrifices, magical rites and unclean habits. In ancient times they were not allowed to enter a village or city during day time or walk in the same street where men of other castes walked. Even their shadow was considered impure and their very sight as a bad omen. So they lived mostly on the fringes of society, unknown and uncared for, following some esoteric religion of their own and working mostly in the graveyards and cremation grounds or as hunters, butchers and professional cleaners of human waste.How the Caste System was EnforcedThe caste system was enforced with the help of law books such as Manusmriti and the support ofkings who considered themselves as upholders of dharma. The force of tradition, superstition, religious beliefs, fear of punishment also played an important role in its success. Some of these factors are explained in detail.Heredity. The caste system was based on birth. People inherited caste from their parents and passed it on to their children. Individuals had no right to change their caste as long as they practiced the Vedic religion. But they could be excommunicated from the caste by the kings or the local administrators or village heads in case of serious transgression. In case of inter caste marriage which were rare, children inherited the castes of their fathers.Caste Rules. The caste rules were enforced strictly through the fear of political and religious authority. The success of the system depended upon the performance of duties prescribed for each caste. The rules varied from caste to caste. People of higher castes enjoyed privileges but were also expected to be good role models. For a Brahmin study of the Vedas, practice of rituals and leading a pure and austere life were a must. Otherwise he was considered to be equal to a sudra in the eyes of his fellow caste members.Women were expected to assist their husbands in observing the caste rules. Purification ceremonies, fines and minor punishments were prescribed to annul the negative effect of violatingcaste rules.Marriage. The caste system prohibited marriages outside one's caste to avoid inter mixture of the castes (varna samkara), which was considered tobe a sign of decline of dharma and the very reason why the caste system was devised. The law books allowed certain types of inter-caste marriages as an exception rather than rule. Marriages between a higher caste men and lower caste women were less objectionable than Marriages between sudra males and higher castefemales and marriages between men of upper castes and sudra women.Preferential treatment: The three upper castes enjoyed distinct advantages in society compared to the sudras whose job was to serve the three upper castes and live like fourth class citizens.3 People born in the three upper castes were given initiation into the study of the Vedas and treated as twice born, while sudras were not allowed to study or even hear the Vedas. They were treated on par with animals and considered once borne. The Brahmins enjoyed the highest status and privileges followed by the Kshatriyas, the Vaisyasand the sudras in the same order. The laws were discriminatory in matters of rewards and punishments. They prescribed lighter punishments for higher castes than the lower castes who had technically little recourse againstthe former in criminal cases. For the same offencecommitted, a lower caste person might attract physical torture, slavery or death penalty while a higher caste person might get away with a simplefine or chastisement or purification ceremony. The lower caste persons were also not allowed to act as witnesses or sit in judgment against highercastes.Royal Support: The caste system was preserved and enforced mostly through royal support. The relationship between the priestly class and the warrior class was one of convenience. The kings took upon themselves the tasks of protecting the caste system and preventing caste intermixture while the priests performed sacrificial ceremonies and purifications ceremonies seekingthe welfare of the king and a place for him in heavens. The scriptures proclaimed the king as a god in human form and protector and preserver ofcastes and caste order .

The very notion of punishment was a created by God and given to the kings upon earth to help them destroy evil andkeep men on the path of dharma. The scriptures suggested that a king should start his day by worshipping three Brahmins on waking up and follow their advice with humility and modesty. Heshould also appoint a Brahman to the position of a chief minister with and deliberate with him on the most important affairs concerning royal policy.Historical PerspectiveThe Rigvedic people came to the Indian subcontinent as priestly families, not as warriors.They won over the subcontinent not through the power of sword as some historians want us to believe but through their superior skill in debate and magical ritualism which they used to gain royal patronage of the local kings. With the support of some native kings whom they won over to their side and who probably had some racial affinity with them, by cleverly adopting many local customs and traditions that would make them acceptable in the eyes of the native people, with their special abilities in using magical incantations and elaborate sacrifices to summon rains or prevent floods or defeat the enemies or drive away thieving hostile tribes, diseases and pestilence, they established their social, political and economic power and spread their influence gradually to the four corners of the Indian subcontinent.Non-Vedic Character of Caste SystemThe Vedic priests did not bring with them the caste system. The early Vedic people had a flexible social organization in which people could change their vocations easily. Different members within the same family practiced different vocations. But as they came into contact with hostile tribes and competing traditions, they resorted to caste system to preserve their identity as a group.

Some form of caste system was already in vogue in ancient India 6, which in all probability the Vedic people adopted to maintain their racial purity and family lineages. This is evident from the fact in the entire Rigveda there is no reference to the caste system except in the Purusha sukta which is considered by many scholars as a later day interpolation.Caste in Hindu MythologyIn the Hindu mythology we find men of lower castes ascending to positions of eminence and authority. Some important characters in the epicsRamayana and Mahabharata belonged to lower castes. Lord Rama was assisted by mostly men of humble origins, who lived in the forests and were ignorant of the Vedic scriptures. Lord Krishna himself was brought up by a family of cowherds. So was Balarama, his step brother, who is sometimes included in the list of Vishnu's ten incarnations. Only three or four of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu came from higher castes. Of the ten only one, the incarnation of Vamana, belongs to the Brahmin caste. Rama, Parashurama and the Buddha belong to the Kshatriya caste while other incarnations such as the incarnation of fish, turtle, boar and the half man and half lion are actually animal incarnations, which in other words means once born, just like the forest dwellers that assisted Lord Rama in his battle against the demon king Ravana.Many ancient sages and rishis also came from humble backgrounds. Parasurama was a Brahmin by birth but a warrior by profession. Vishwamitra was a warrior by birth but practiced austerities like a Brahmins and became a great rishi. Sage Parashar, the famous law giver, was the son of an outcaste (chandala). Rishi Vashista was born to a prostitute ,while sage Vyasa, the original author of the Mahabharata, was born to a fisherwoman. Rishi Valmiki the original composer of Ramayana came from a tribal familyof traditional hunters. Some composers of the Vedic and Upanishadic hymns belonged to either lower castes or mixed castes. Satyakama Jabala was born to a prostitute who could not tell him who his father was. Karna, the famous character from the Mahabharata was brought up by low caste family, while Drona, the teacher of the Pandavas, was a Brahmin by caste but excelled in marital arts .The Development of Rigid Caste SystemThe Rigvedic society had a flexible caste system which allowed individuals to change their castes if necessary. Color (varna) and family lineage were more important during this period rather than occupation. But during the post Vedic period, caste system became rigid and offered little flexibility to people to pursue vocations not authorized by caste rules. Foreign invasions and the presence of foreigners should have sparked this new development to prevent the possibility of caste pollution and confusion of castes. Well defined code of conduct, rewards and punishments and purification procedures became necessary to regulate the inflow of new members into the Vedic society and their integration into the existing framework of castes without disturbing the social structure and the dominance of the priestly class.Elevation of the Sudra KingsMany emperors and rulers in ancient India came from humble backgrounds. They became rulers on account of their personal valor and adventurous spirit. The Nandas who ruled a vast empire with Pataliputra as their capital at the time of the birth of the Buddha, belonged to a low caste of barbers. So was Chandragupta Maurya, who succeeded them. His mother belonged to a family of peacock tamers and probably served in the court of Nandas as a courtesan. The Sakas and the Kushanas were foreigners who came from outside. They patronized Saivism but kept away from Vedism. The Guptas were either Vaishyas or Jats while the Nagas or the Barashivas were sudras. We do not know for surehow the Vedic priests managed their relationship with the sudra kings and the foreign rulers. In most cases these kings joined Buddhism or Jainism or Saivism as these religions did not favor caste system. In fewer cases they accepted the compromise offered by the Vedic priests in return of gifts and land grants to admit them into the Vedic fold as Kshatriyas through purification ceremonies and the blessing of the gods and by tracing their lineage to some mythical race having roots in heaven. If these strategies failed, the Vedic priests either kept a low profile or sought the protection of neighboring rulers.Varna, Jati and GotraThe early Vedic society was more concerned with the color and family identity of people rather than their castes as is evident from the Rigvedic hymnswhich distinguish people based on their complexion and creed rather than occupation based castes. The caste system9 is known in Sanskrit as varnashrama dharma which actually means a system based on color. In the early days it was color of the skin that mattered, not the caste. A Brahmin was considered varnashresht or best of color. Varna also meant a letter or character or sound. Teaching how to write and spell Sanskrit letters was called varna-shiksha. The Vedic people were conspicuous by their colorin contrast to the dark skinned tribes whom they derogatorily referred as dasyus, dasas, asuras, pisachas and rakshasas. These tribes spoke different languages, did not show any respect for the Vedic gods and sacrifices and would have probably shown the same contempt towards the Vedic people for their racial snobbery.

Many scholars believe that the varnas were different from castes. The varnas were classes based on racial features, while the castes were further divisions within each class based on occupation or lineage. Thus while there were only four varnas or classes, the number of castes or occupational divisions with in each class varied.The word jati actually means the form of existence that comes by birth. Thus animals belong to pasujati or the group of animals and humans to narajati or the group of humans. Jati is also used loosely to mean a caste, a race, a lineage, a tribe or a class of men. A jati-brahmin is some one who is a brahmin by birth but not by occupation or knowledge or performance of rites and rituals. Closely related with jati are the worlds jat, meaning birth or existence and jatakam meaning natal chart.Gotra actually means the name of a cow pen or stable. It is also used to denote the name of a family, lineage or race of Brahmin families. Strictly speaking, only Brahmin families are supposed to belong to particular gotras. In case of people belonging to other castes, it denotes the lineage of their respective family priests. So if a Brahmin quotes his gotra he is telling from which lineage or family he descended and when a non Brahmin is quoting his gotra, he is telling the gotra of the priest whose services his family traditionally used. Traditionally the gotras of brahmin families are traceable to seven or eight ancient sages. But today there are thousands of gotras and no one knows how these many gotras have sprouted. While for Brahmin families gotras carry a lot of significance, for others gotras usually matter during ritual worship and performance of sacraments.

As in case of castes, marriages within the same gotra are prohibited by the law books.