The word _gotra_ means a stall or cow-pen, and would thus originally signify those who lived together in one place like a herd of cattle.

But the _gotras_ are now exceedingly large, the same ones being found in most or all of the Brahman subcastes, and it is believed that they do not regulate marriage as a rule.

Sometimes ordinary surnames have taken the place of clan names, and persons with the same surname consider themselves related and do not marry.

But usually Brahmans prohibit marriage between Sapindas or persons related to each other within seven degrees from a common ancestor.

The word Sapinda signifies those who partake together of the _pindas_ or funeral cakes offered to the dead.