The name of the clan to which the Buddha and the Sākyā belonged. The members of the clan, though warriors (khattiya), claimed descent from a brahmin sage (isi), Gotama (For an explanation of this see Thomas, op.cit., 22 f). Gotama and Aṅgiras are both enumerated in the Pravara ceremony as the ancestors of the Gotama clan (Asvalāyana, Srauta-sūtra, 12, 11, 1).

Late Buddhists appear to have forgotten the Vedic rsi, for, according to an ancient legend, Okkāka, the immediate ancestor of the Sākyā, was born of an egg formed of the coagulated blood and semen of an ascetic Gotama, as he lay impaled for the alleged murder of a courtesan. The egg was hatched by the sun (Mtu.i.338 ff; Rockhill, Buddha, 9 f).

Gotama is the name by which the Buddha is addressed by brahmins and others who are not his followers. In one place, at least, the Buddha is represented as addressing the Sākyā as “Gotamā.” (S.iv.183). The Gotama-gotta is classed among the higher clans, together with such clans as Moggallāna, Kaccāyana and Vāseṭṭha (Vin.iv.6; DA.i.246 f, uccākula-paridīpanaṃ). According to the Theragāthā Commentary (ii.204; also AA.i.395; Gotama-buddhassa sāvako pi Gotamo), the Buddha’s disciples (e.g., in the case of Vaṅgīsa) were also called Gotama, even when they did not naturally belong to that clan. See also Sākyā.