[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [Ancient Indian Historical Tradition](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922) › c17.18 # Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c17.18 Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c17.18 - **Language:** English ### [c17.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922.c17.18) Secondly, the use of a patronymic does not always denote that the person to whom it is applied was the son of the bearer of the simple name, but often means a descendant. This is patent as regards tribal or family names, such as Yādava, Paurava, Bhārata and Kaurava; and is also clear in less comprehensive names, as when Rāma is called Rāghava after his great grandfather Raghu,⁶ and Kṛṣṇa is styled Dāśārha, Mādhava, Sātvata, Vārṣṇeya and Śauri after various ancestors,⁷ as well as Vāsudeva after his father. This use of patronymics seems to be more frequent in kṣatriya than in brahmanic traditions; thus Ṛcīka (p. 68) and the later ṛṣi Agni of Sagara’s time⁸ are both called Aurva after their common ancestor Ūrva. Moreover, a man had various patronymics from different ancestors, and the choice in poetry was often governed by the metre; and perhaps this may explain Kakṣīvant’s patronymic Auśija in Rigveda i, 18, 1, instead of Dairghatamasa or Aucathya.⁹ - [Previous: c17.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922.c17.17) - [Next: c17.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922.c17.19) - [Up: c17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922.c17) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922.c17.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.pargiter-1922.c17.18) · Pramāṇa