Seven and sagotra.

Bharatvasi's seem to have a fascination to the number 'seven'.

In ancient India the seas were always reffered to as Sapta samudras or the 'seven seas' .The most popular constellation of stars are the 'Sapta rishis'[ursa major].An Vedic Hindu marriage is completed only after Saptapadi or taking 'seven' steps or circumbulating the sacred fire 'seven' times. The following are some more Sapta's:

Sapta loka -the seven worlds.
Sapta janmam-the seven births.
Sapta Moksha daayipuries-The seven sacred places of Hindu pilgrimage that guarentees Moksha - Haridwar ,Kanchipuram,Kasi,Ayodhya,Mathura, Dwaraka and Ujjain.
Sapta Parvartha--The seven holy mountains.
Sapta Sindhu---the seven sacred rivers
Sapta Vriksha---the seven sacred trees.
Sapta giri --the seven hills ,[Tirumala]the abode of lord Srinivasa.
Sapta nadi chakra--The seven planets used in prediction ofweather in astrology.
Sapta swarams---The seven basic notes of Carnatic music .
Sapta tala----the rhythamatic cycle of beats in Canatic music originates from the seven family of tala's.
The list of 'Saptas ' or the importance accorded to the number seven in ancient India is endless.
More recently Vidat has also divided the life of a soft ware engineer in 'seven' stages.

. 'Gotra' is the lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth .This is patrilineal. It signifies the descent from Rishi's of Vedic age[1500 BC] who were 'seven' in number .


The law governing Hindu marriages and succession and adoption bearing the stamp of authority of the parliament,with some trimming and few additions, is actually derived from ancient laws known as Smritis or Dharma sastras .

These are the rules of justice enunciated by several learned and wise men over a period of time.
In 2 nd century BC it was Manu who codified the laws that were scattered around. Manu Smrithi or code has been treated by Hindu sages and commentators as of paramount authority.
Next to Manu in date and in importance is Yajnavalkya ,the jurist par excellence of third century AD .
Majority of Hindus in India subscribe to 'Mitakshara' school of law. Mitakshara is the most authoritative and celebrated commentary on Yajna valkya Smrithi . This was the gift of Vijnaneswara an eminent jurist of 11 th cent AD. He freed the Dharma sastras of religious fetters and made it acceptable to all in India.

Yajnavalkya enjoins that a man should marry a girl who is not a sapinda of him and descended from one whose gotra and parvara is different from him .

In Mitakshara Vijnanesvara defines sapinda . Sapinda relationship arises between two people through their being connected by the particles of one body viz a common ancestor.e.g a son is a sapinda of his father.
But in as much the definition would be too wide , since such relationships exists in eternal circle of births in some manner or the other ,he put a lid ,by firmly stating that the sapinda relationship ceases after the 5 th degree on the mothers side and on the 'seventh' lineal ascendancy on the fathers line.He also limits' Sagotra' sapindas to 5 th and 7 th lines respectively.

The Hindu marriages disabilities Removal act of 1946 says,a marriage between Hindu's is not invalid only by reason of parties belonging to same 'gotra.'
The rationale behind this Act is that with tremendous increase in population two persons maybe of same gotra but could be 100 times removed from a common ancestor! They are no longer siblings.

The king was the fountain head of all law in ancient India.Apart from this sovereign dispenser of law, the Mitakshara refers to popular peoples tribunals that administered justice.They were the Puga, Srenis and Kula.

Kula was the judicial assembly of relatives by blood and marriage who decided issues regarding religion and caste.The caste panchayats or the khap panchayats.Those tendering justice were required to be well versed in the smritis and to abide by the smritis.In case of conflict between other smritis the one more equitable was to prevail.

If a case was decided by the king himself, there was no appeal . But a case decided by Kula or Khap, an appeal lay to Srenis ,an assembly of same trade and calling.An appeal also lay from Srenis to Puga ,an assembly of fellow and neighbouring villagers of all caste ,calling and trade.
Thus Khula was the lowest in hierarchy and could be overridden by others.

Khap's are not the last word in administration of justice , even historically speaking.