13 June 2015 - QA 9

Gurudev, can marriage happen between two people belonging to the same Gotra (a term in Hindu culture referring to the unbroken ancestral line of descents from a common male ancestor)?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

When I was touring Haryana this time, many scientists and people met me. They discussed very interesting and unique facts about this. They spoke about how they differentiate different breeds of cows and determine the genes a particular breed carries, on the basis on Genealogy.
They told me that they do not marry within the same Gotra or gene pool and which is why they have such healthy children and generations of progeny. They told me that out of the 10 sports medals in sport events this year, nine medals have been bagged by Haryana. And they told me that the reason why this happened is because they give so much importance to the concept of Gotra and follow it very seriously.
They told me that for up to three generations, they do not marry within the same Gotra on the mother’s side as well, which is why their children have very healthy genes across generations. So we have been following these principles about the Gotra since many ages.

This concept has great importance in the field of animal husbandry as well. It is also said that siblings should not marry each other, and marriages should not be held between very close relatives. So this appears to be correct from a scientific perspective.

The concept of Gotra is very ancient and has expanded so much over several hundred years. At the same time, I do not think it is right to be too rigid and fanatical about it as well. For example, the way you follow Gotras in Punjab or Haryana may not be the same way you do in Tamil Nadu, because there can be a great difference. There is definitely a lot of relevance for the Gotra and as much as possible, it is good to not marry within the same Gotra.