Mishra

Mishra or Misra is also an Indian surname, normally associated with the Brahmin. "Mishra" is a word from the Sanskrit language meaning "mixed" or "blended".[1] It refers to those Brahmins in Vedic age who used to do all rituals in a Vedic ceremony instead of any specific one. It is one of the most widespread Brahmin surnames in the fertile Gangetic plain region and in the Indian states of Punjab, Delhi, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Assam and West Bengal. It is also found in countries such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago under the anglicized version of Misir, due to migration owing to agricultural/plantation employment. The surname is also found in Fiji and Mauritius, as well as in other Indian diaspora communities.
"Mishra" is a surname associated with Gautam Gotra (descent from one of the three great sage Gautam) Brahmin. However it is also found in other gotras like Ghrit Kaushik,katyayan, Shandilya, Sanskritya too. "Mishra" surname is also used by descent from the great king Bhagiratha, the warrior saint Parashurama and also Vamana who covered his whole creation of universe with his bare feet in just two steps to save whole universe of lord Vishnu in form of small baby child Vamana an avatar of Vishnu. They have historically been martial Brahmins as well, and due to there involvement in the uprising against the British in the First War of Indian Independence in 1857, when many of the ranks which followed Mangal Pandey in his rebellion were composed of Brahmins from the agricultural regions of Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Due to this they were not declared a martial race like Mohyals due to their ardent support for the Indian independence movement and rebellion against the British Raj. Historically, Mishras have always fulfilled their religious duties and had great knowledge of the Vedas and other holy texts. However presently the majority are engaged in more secular vocations.
Presently, the majority of Mishra's inhabit the fertile agricultural regions of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh & Orissa, where they are engaged in mainly tertiary sector activities (Govt. & Private Services) as well as in agriculture and allied activities. One generation back they were mainly in teaching & religious duties as per their traditions. Current Generation has many engineers, scientist, Civil servants, writers, musicians, Bollywood stars, sportsperson & politicians.
[edit]Notable people with the surname Mishra

Akhilendra Mishra - Indian film and television character actor.
Aloke Kumar Misra- CMD of Bank of India
Amit Mishra - right arm leg break bowler and right-handed lower order batsman of Indian cricket team.
Ankita Mishra - singer, contestant on Indian Idol 3
Archana Mishra- Ramasundaram, 1980 batch Indian Police Service officer & first woman IG of CBI.
Bhawani Prasad Mishra - poet
Brijesh Mishra - first National Security Adviser (India)
Birju Maharaj - Most famous Kathak dancer
Chaitanya Maha Prabhu - saint poet, Krishna devotee
Pandit Chhannulal Mishra - Hindustani classical music
Gargishankar Ramkrishna Mishra - Indian Member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh 1967,1971,1977,1980,1984,1987 ,Former Union Minister for coal and petroleum; represented India in Russia in 1976.
Girija Shankar Misra - Co-founder Research and Analysis Wing, Indian Police Service
Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra- Only Women Justice in Supreme Court of India currently.[2]
Jyoti Prakash Mishra, musician who releases music as White Town
Leela Mishra - famous actress who played role of mother in many old movies of 60's and 70's.
Mandana Mishra - Famous Ancient philosopher
Pankaj Mishra -intellectual, philosopher and author
Piyush Mishra - Indian film actor, music director, lyricist, and writer
Dr Prashant Mishra- Professor of Marketing at IIM Calcutta.
Justice Ranganath Misra - Former Chief Justice of India, Famous for Mishra Commission.
Rahul Mishra- Famous fashion designer, chosen MTV Youth Icon of the Year 2008
Rajan and Sajan Mishra - Contemporary North Indian Musician
Ram Kumar Mishra - Director, Institute of Public Enterprise (Hyderabad): famous Management and Economics Guru and member and leader of various "Working Groups" and Committees of the Government of India, the United Nations Organization, The World Bank, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development etc.
Roopa Mishra - First Oriya Lady to top IAS.
Sameer Mishra - 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee champion (USA)
Sanjay Mishra - World famous American guitarist and composer.
Sanjay Mishra (actor) - comedian known from Office Office
Sourav Mishra - Reuters journalist, one of the first witnesses of 2008 Mumbai Attacks
Sudhir Mishra - Indian film director and screenwriter
Suneil Mishra - videogame industry veteran involved in driving several novel technologies into the PC gaming and semiconductor fields.
V.S. Mishra - Senior Indian Police Service officer, Former Director CBI.
Veer Bhadra Mishra - Time Magazine's Hero of the Planet for his commendable work for Cleaning Ganga.

Origin of Maithil Brāhamanas

Uttarakānda of Vālmiki Rāmāyana (Ramayana) gives a detailed story of the origin of Maithil Brāhamanas.[citation needed] The King Nimi started a great yajna in which he invited rishi Vasiṣṭha for performing this yajna.[citation needed] Vasiṣṭha accepted but was busy in another yajna for a long time and therefore could not come in time.[citation needed] In the meantime, King Nimi asked the rishi (sage) Gotama to perform the yajna.[citation needed] Many other rishis were also invited.[citation needed] When Vasiṣṭha came and saw that the yajna was over, he cursed Nimi to live without body. Nimi retorted with a similar curse.[citation needed] By the blessings of his father Brahma, Vasiṣṭha was reborn in a kumbha (pitcher).[citation needed] Bhrigu and other sages asked the bodyless king Nimi whether he wanted to get a body, but Nimi refused and said he wanted to live in the 'pupils'(eyelids, Nimi) of people.[citation needed] Then Nimi's body was churned and a man was created, who came to be called Videha because he was born of a father who had no body (deha), and was also called Maithil because he was produced by churning (manthana).[citation needed] All the present gotras of Maithils are said to start from the sages who participated in the great yajna of Nimi.[citation needed] Yajnayalkya lived in Mithila (according to Brihadaranyaka Upanishada) and proponents of India's six philosophies also lived herew, including Gotama (Nyaya), Kapil(Samkhya),etc. Buddhism was widespread here.[citation needed] Later Udyotkata, Kumarila Bhatta, Mandana Mishra, Prabhakara, Udayanacharya, Gangesh, Pakshadhara Mishra, etc reestablished the Vedic religion by defeating Buddhists in debates. [3].
According to D.D. Kosāmbi[4], Śatpath Brāhmana tells that Māthava Videgha, led by his priest Gotama Rahugana, was the first king who originally lived in the land of Sarasvati crossed Sadānirā (supposed to be Gandaka) and founded a kingdom, where the people named videhas lived at the time of composition of Śatpath Brāhmana. Gotama Rahugana was a vedic rishi who composed many hymns of the first mandala of Rgveda. Most notable Rgvedic hymns of Gotama Rahugana are those that praise Sva-rājya, which was the State of Videgha, which later became Videha due to phonetic change. Māthava Videgha, therefore, must belong to the Rgvedic period and must have preceded the period of Śatpath Brāhmana by a considerable gap. Rgveda also mentions hymns by Kāśirāja Pratardana in tenth mandala. Hence, Mithilā and Kāśhi formed part of the region in which Rgvedic people lived. Descendandants of Gotama Rahugana were called Gautama. One such sage lived near Ahilya-sthāna during the age of Rāmāyana.

Detail About Maithil Bramins

Maithil Brahmins ( Brāhamaṇas is the correct Sanskrit term) form part of ancient Vedic Brahmins. Maithil Brāhamaṇas are a part of Panch-gauda Pañchgauḍa , a group of highest ranking castes among Brahmins, who still strive to follow rites and rituals according to ancient Hindu canons.[citation needed] Maithil Brahmin is a community of highly cohesive, and traditional Brahmins.[citation needed] They are reputated for orthodoxy and interest in learning.[citation needed] Most of them live in and around Mithila, which is a portion of North Bihar and few districts of South-east Bihar up to Godda and Deoghar in Jharkhand of India plus adjoining Terai regions of Nepal.[citation needed] Mithila was the name of capital of the ancient kingdom of legendary King Janak.[citation needed] Most of them are Śāktas (worshippers of Śakti) and love Choora-dahi (Beaten rice - Curd), Sugar, Pickle, Mangoes and discussions and debate.[citation needed] Maithili is their mother tongue, though many use Angika (a southern variant of Maithili) as their mother tongue.[citation needed]
They have four hierarchically ordered divisions: Śrotiya, Yogya or Joga, Panjibaddha (Pāinj in Maithili) and Jayawāra or Jaibar (which can be divided into Grihastha and Vamśa according to some scholars).[citation needed] They have no further endogamous divisions but observe a complicated rules for marriage, each of these four divisions may take a wife from the group below it.[citation needed]They are organized into named patrilineal groupings, and the genealogical links within and between these groupings has been an essential feature of Maithil Brahman social life for centuries. A class of genealogists known as panjikaras maintain records of the lineages and marriage links between them for the higher ranking lineages.