Pravara

A lineage system, primarily among
brahmins, which builds on the assumptions of the gotra system (the tracing of
brahmin lineage to one of seven mythical sages). In his daily worship a brahmin would not only mention the name
of his gotra, who is the sage believed to
be the family’s immediate progenitor,
but also the names of other sages
believed to be remote ancestors. Both
these “lineages” were passed down only
through men, since it was customary for
a married woman to adopt her husband’s gotra as part of her new identity.
The only context in which gotra and
pravara were really important was in
fixing marriages, because of the
kinship conferred by these mythic
lineages. Marriage within the gotra
was strictly forbidden, since the
assumption that such people were
directly related made this marriage
incestuous. Marriage within the pravara
was also forbidden, although in
medieval times different groups interpreted this prohibition differently.
For some groups, any shared pravara
ancestry would forbid the marriage, but
for other groups one shared “ancestor”
was deemed permissible. The more
lenient interpretation may well have
been spurred by practical difficulties in
making matches.