Gothra. Family, race, lineage.

The Gothram name demonstrates the family's traditional style of knowledge acquisition and expertise in ancient theories. Based on the fact that cross-breeding of excellent but different species yields better quality, marriage from a family belonging to the same Gothram was and is still banned for Konkanis. Looking from another angle, marriage from the same Gothram has a better chance of generating mentally retarded or physically handicapped children or at least children of less intellectual capacity.

Common Gothrams 1. Bharadwaaja 2. Kousika 3. Vaatsam 4. Koundinya 5. Kaasyapa 6. Vaasishta 7. Jaamadagnya 8. Viswaamithra 9. Gouthama 10.Athri

And after rattling the google I found this link http://www.kokanastha.com/htm/vasishtha.htm

which says i am a "vasishtha".