CLAN MOTHER TO TRIBAL MOTHER 43 But because she equates kula with phratry, a fruitful investigation into the origins and development of these two institutions, both forming the basic units of the ancient Indian society, is cut short: Neither the vamsa nor the kula possesses the characteristics of a clan. VamSa is a line of patrilineal descent, Kula is patri-kin based on locality. If a junior branch in a kula wandered away, established itself elsewhere and changed its name, marriage between it and the original kula could take place. The name of a clan is fixed. The vamsa and kula names on the other hand had no fixity. They were patronymics derived from the names of some famous ancestors and when a new hero arose he gave his own name to his descendants... The kula may be called a phratry, a gebniderschaft which remained an exogamous unit as long as it was based on one locality. . . . a Thus according to her, both the institutions are identical in character, if not in origin, that is, both are patriarchal; but, there is no conclusive evidence to show that kula at any time meant phratry. In order to arrive at a correct distinction between gotra and kula, we will have to turn to ancient sources. These sources not only assert that the Ksatriyas and Vaisyas have no gotra of their own, but that they have to adopt the gotra of their purohita Brahmins: ... It appears from the Ait. Br ... that in the case of ksatriyas the pravara of their purohita was employed in religious acts where pravara had to be recited. This leads to the inference that most ksatriyas had forgotten their gotras and pravara by that time. The Srauta sutras allow an option to ksatriyas(to kings according to Asv.). 'They may employ the pravara of the purohitas or all ksatriyas may employ the same pravara viz. Manava—Aila—Paururavasa—iti.5 Medhatithi on Manu 111.5 states that the distinctions of gotras and pravaras concern primarily brahmanas alone and not ksatriyas or vaisyas and quotes Asv. Sr.(I. 3) in support. The Mit. and other nibandhakaras rely on the first alternative mentioned in the sutras and say that in marriages of ksatriyas and vaisyas the gotras and pravaras of their purohitas should be considered, as chey have no specific gotras of their own. . . . 8 The occasion of the ritual declaration of gotras arose for both the Ksatriyas and Vaisyas at the time of marriage ceremonies, while for a K§atriya it arose also at the time of his consecration to kingship. It is significant that the option allowed to Ksatriyas contains a name which is starkly matrilineal. Aila means according to Ramayana (ver. 89. 23-24), the son oflla, the queen of the Bahlkas, while Mahabharata (1.75.18-19) declares that Ha was both the mother and father of Pururavas (Sa vai tasya abhavan mata pita ca eva iti nah srutam.)4 Patrilineality in this optional gotra system commences only with Pururavas. Different kinds of marriage ceremonies were prescribed by the law-givers for the Brahmins and the rest of the two higher castes and resulted in different situations for the brides of both the sets of castes. Baudhayana prescribes that the