In Jainism, “gotra” mainly means family / clan lineage, not a spiritual rank.

Very simply:

1. Gotra = family line

- It is like a surname‑group or kul. - Used mostly by Jain householders (śrāvaks) for: - identifying ancestry - deciding marriages (generally, no marriage in the same gotra).

1. Not a basic Jain doctrine

- Tattvas, karma, samyag‑darshan, etc. are core Jain principles. - Gotra is a social system, created for order in society, not for deciding who is higher or lower spiritually. - Both Digambar and Shwetambar accept that spiritual progress does not depend on birth or gotra.

1. Different communities, different gotras

- Many Śvetāmbara communities (like Oswal, Porwal, Khandelwal etc.) talk about “84 gotras” (chourāsī gotra), but: - The names and number can change from samaj to samaj. - Some Digambar communities also have their own gotra lists (e.g. Khandelwal Digambar, Jaiswal, Parwar etc.), again mainly for social/marriage rules. - There is no one, single, official list of “all Jain gotras” in Agamas or main Jain shastras.

1. Tirthankars and royal gotra

- In Jain stories, Tirthankars are sometimes said to be born in certain dynasties (vamśa/gotra) like Ikshvaku, Kasyap, etc. - This is historical/royal lineage, different from our present lay‑people social gotras.

1. Digambar vs Śvetāmbara view

- Both traditions treat gotra as: - useful for social rules (especially marriage) - not a measure of punya, papa, or liberation. - For moksha, only right faith, right knowledge, right conduct, and shedding of karma matter – never caste or clan.

You can read a simple explanation of Jain gotras here and more discussion here .