saab,
if i was extending the limits of your patience, it was unintended. i do apologize if it is order to do so.
i was not being flippant. i was referring to the issue of youngsters wishing to tie the knot, and feeling constrained by the doctrine of sahgothra. as you are aware this is a separate thread, and most of the views, were in support of the youngsters, with different approach to the solution. i do not recall anyone opposing the union per se but i may be wrong there.
also, a relative of mine, adopted his maternal nephew, who instantly changed his gothram. i think gothram is a matter of faith. my own is haridh, my maternal grandfather kowsika, and maternal grandmother athreya. so, i think it is fair to say that i have inherited the satvik qualities derived of this gothrams, and when i extrapolate it over a few thousand years, i probably have a sprinkling of all gothrams in a mathematically defined probabilities.
since we are patrilineal societies we have accepted the norm of our father's gothram but as in the instance of adoptions, for example, the person acquiring the gothram, claims immediately a different lineage. but it is ok, because we all have a fair distribution in our genes of all gothrams, and we really do not know what percentage of us is haridh or kowsika.
while i cannot speak for others, it is quite possible 3 generations removed, my ancestor might have been adopted. we do not have written records.
re asuras: asuras to me, as told when i was a child by my aunt, was characters like kamsan, who gave krishna & balaram a hard time. the features, habits and attributes described, i do not think will fit anyone who practices dharmic beliefs in a format different from another.
after all, in this modern world, don't we all compromise on our dharmic beliefs. dharma, as written by the sages, in isolated vanams thousands of years ago, has sometimes been an issue to follow in this day and age. hence we have prayaaschithams and work arounds. we are brahmins, and we above all other groups, should be practising dharma as prescribed in our scriptures. which i can safely say, most of us don't.
ultimately all this matters once we breathe our last. and in line for our rebirth. how much of us can honestly claim to have lived a life which will free us from rebirth? further more, what will we be born as given a choice - knowing fully well that it will not be a brahmin. a human but a dalit? or a dog in the u.s.a. for all practical purpose, the dog has a better life.
again sir, i am not being light or flippant here. but trying to make sense of this world in terms that i can be honest with myself and values. it is not meant to cause hurt and neither should it be considered heckling under any circumstances.
thank you.