Gotra

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Key Term	gotra
In Tibetan Script	རིགས་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	rigs
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	गोत्र
Romanized Sanskrit	gotra
Chinese Script	鍾姓,種性
Chinese Pinyin	zhōng xìng
English Standard	disposition
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term	disposition
Richard Barron's English Term	spiritual affinity
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term	type; kind; lineage
Ives Waldo's English Term	nationality; bloodline; variety; status
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	Gotra refers to the innate potential or inborn trait of sentient beings, sometimes referred to as a "spiritual gene" or "psychological disposition" which is linked to their potential for enlightenment.
Has the Sense of	The term gotra is often used in the sense of family, lineage, or type in the sense that it is used to classify sentient beings as part of several different groups, primarily based on the capacity for progression along the path to enlightenment.
Related Terms	Buddha-dhātu
Related Topic Pages	buddha-nature
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism	See page 325: In Sanskrit, “family” or “lineage,” used in a figurative sense. The vinaya explains that those in a noble family or line are those monks who are content with their robes, with whatever they receive in their begging bowls, and with low-quality bedding, and who take pleasure in forsaking the unwholesome (akuśala) and cultivating the wholesome (kuśala). In the Pāli abhidhamma, the moment when one’s concentration or insight moves from one “family” to another is called “change of lineage” (gotrabhū). In Mahāyāna literature (especially that associated with the Yogācāra), gotra refers to a destiny, almost in the sense of a spiritual disposition, that prompts one to follow a particular path to enlightenment. There is typically a list of five such spiritual destinies (pańcagotra) found in Yogācāra literature: (1) the tathāgata lineage, for those destined to become buddhas; (2) the pratyekabuddha lineage, for those destined to become arhats via the pratyekabuddhayāna; (3) the Śrāvaka lineage, for those who will become arhats via the śrāvakayāna; (4) those of indefinite (aniyata) lineage, who may change from any of three vehicles to another; and (5) those without lineage (agotra), who are ineligible for liberation or who have lost the prospect of becoming enlightened by being “incorrigibles” (icchantika). Another division of lineage is into PRAKR riSTHAGO IRA (naturally present) and samudAn Itagotra (developed). According to the Yogācārabhūmiśāstra, the former refers to one’s innate potential for spiritual achievement; the latter refers to the specific individual habits one can develop that will help speed the mastery of that potential. See also Faxiang zong; Śrāvakabhūmi.
Edgerton's Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary	Page 216: gotra, m. and nt. (in Skt. only nt.. and not in these mgs.; Pali Dictt. also fail to record these mgs. except in cpd. g o t r a b h ū , q.v.; but Pali gotta seems clearly used in mg. 1, below, in Vism. i.138.4-5, in definition of gotrabhū: tarn parittagottābhibhavanato m a h a g g a t a g o t t a b h ā v a n a t o ca gotrabhū ti pi vuccati; note how Pali here associates the Sktized gotra-bhū with the MIndic gotta I contrast Lėvi's note on Sūtrāl. iii.l), (1) lit. family, but in special technical sense of religious group or communion: paficagotrāh Mvy 1260, listed 1261-5 śrāvaka-yānābhisamayagotrah, pratyekabuddha-yānā°, tathāgata-yānā°, aniyatagotrah, a-gotrah; same five, with -gotram, nt., Lank 63.2-5 (paficābhisamaya-gotrāņi); for the fourth, aniyataikatara- gotram, 63.4; in the sequel Lank explains at length the first three; aniyata-, le gotra qui n'est pas difinitif, Lėvi, Sūtrāl. iii.l, note, is briefly treated in Lank 65.2 f., aniyata-gotrakah punar . . . trisv apy etesu deśyamānesu yatrānuniyate tatrānuyojyah s y ā t ; apparently this is the class of people who may be drawn to whichever of the three yānas happens to be presented. The a-gotra is not explained but evidently means people outside of any Buddhist communion; in this sense understand gotrāgotrarņ katharņ Lank 25.2, (religious) family and lack of it (dvandva cpd.). Only the first three gotras are listed AbhidhK. LaV-P. vi.175; similarly Bbh 223.5-6 contrasts śrāvaka-pratyekabuddha-gotrārņ (acc. pi.) with tathāgata-gotrān. In K P 102.9; 103.1, 8 āryāņārņ gotrarņ is described as a state in which all normal conditions and activities are at an end, and in 104.1-2 (continuation of the same) it is said, anulomam tad gotrarņ nirvāņasya. The relation of this to the three or five gotras is not quite clear. In the question, kena pravartitā gotrāh suvarņamaņimuktajāh Lank 26.3, gotra is prob. used in this same sense, but the adj., sprung from gold, gems, and pearls, is obscure in application; one is tempted to see an allusion (metaphorically) to the next mg., cf. especially suvarņagotra- vat Sūtrāl. iii.9 and suratna-gotra-vat 10, with Lėvľs note; but producing gold etc., which one would expect, seems philologically impossible; (2) mine, of gems or ores: Sūtrāl. iii.9,10, above; sarvaratnasarņbhavotpattigotrākaramūlyajňānesu Gv 451.2; dhātu-gotrāņi, mines of ores (metals), °ņi yam p a k t v ā suvarņa-rūpya-vaidūryāņy (°vaid°) abhinivartanťe Divy 111.20* and (°ūrya-sphaįikāny°) 111.28-29, 112.12-13; catvāro dhātu-gotrāh pradarśitāri MSV i.106.16; (3) like Skt. ākara, also origin: nikāyagati-gotrā ye Lank 292.16, paraphrasing nikāyagati sarņbhavāt (labhyante) 292.13; basis, source, cause, seea Bbh 2.25 punar etad gotram ādhāra ity ucyate, upastambho hetur niśraya upanisat pūrvamgamo nilaya ity ucyate . . . (3.1 gotram d vivid ham, prakrtistham samudānītam ca, natural and acquired.. .); 3.6 f. tat punar gotram bljam ity apy ucyate, dhātuh prakrtir ity api (cf. gotra = blja, hetu, AbhidhK. L a V - P . vii.49); (4) prob. as special development of prec, kind, class, category (like Skt. jāti, of similar origin and lit. mg.): nānāratna-gotra-puspapratimaņaMte Lank 1.7, adorned with flowers (made of) various kinds of jewels; so prob. vijftaptl-gotra-sarņchannam Lank 269.12, covered by (various) classes of relative (worldly, practical) knowledge (see vijflapti).
Rangjung Yeshe's English Term	kinds, types [ggd]. 1) kinds, varieties, types, aspects. 2) caste, bloodline, lineage, extraction, birth, descent, lineage, family, noble, potential, class, gene [spiritual genes], type, category, status. 2) specific spiritual family, Buddha family. 3) Buddha nature. 4) nature. Syn (snying po) 5) reason. 6) certain [in end of sentence. it is certain!. 7) will understand. 8) causal ground. 9) possibility, capability, potential. 10) philosophy. 11) realm. Syn khams. 12) appropriateness. 13) gotra, here "go" comes from guna, quality. "Tra" means to protect. So gotra means to protect the qualities (yon tan skyob pa) Can also mean potential or seed; family, class, type, noble, potential; possible storied/ qualified; enlightened-family. born, nature, kinds, varieties, types, aspects, caste, bloodline, lineage, family, class, gene [spiritual genes], type, category, status. Buddha nature, nature. Syn (snying po) reason, certain [in end of sentence. it is certain!. will understand, causal ground, possibility, capability, potential, philosophy, realm. Syn khams, appropriateness; family/ (character) type/ kind/ species; family trait - (in sense of buddha nature); reasoning; category; gotra, potential or seed. families. potential; 'phags pa'i rigs - noble potential
Synonyms	kula; vaṃśa
Grammatical / Etymological Analysis	Following Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra III.4cd and its Bhāṣya, the hermeneutical etymology of gotra is often explained as meaning guṇottāraṇa, with the syllable go in gotra standing for guṇa ("qualities") and the syllable tra representing uttāraṇa ("delivering," "setting free"). Thus, the got is the disposition from which qualities arise and increase or which sets them free... Gotra can also mean "what protects qualities" (guṇatraya)." - Karl Brunnhölzl, When the Clouds Part, pp. 95-96.

Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain.

Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain.

Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain.

A fundamental component or essential constituent.

Vinaya refers to the corpus of Buddhist teachings on moral discipline and precepts and is one of the three canonical sets of teachings alongside Sūtra and Abhidharma. It also refers to the monastic tradition which has been passed down since the Buddha's time until our time.

Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

Commonly seen in a Mahāyāna context, the three vehicles are the Śrāvakayāna, Pratyekabuddhayāna, and Bodhisattvayāna, which reference the three different types of Buddhist practitioners. However, these three vehicles can also reference the three types of Buddhist teachings of the Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna (or Pāramitāyāna), and the Vajrayāna.

Mahāvyutpatti

The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases.

A seed, commonly used figuratively in the sense of something which has the potential to develop or grow, and likewise as the basic cause for this development or growth.