Thehaṃsa (Sanskrit: हंसhaṃsa orhansa) is anaquaticmigratory bird, referred to in ancient Sanskrit texts which various scholars have interpreted as being based on thegoose, theswan,[2] or even theflamingo.[1][3] Its image is used inIndian andSoutheast Asian culture as a spiritual symbol and a decorative element. It is also used in a metaphorical sense with the bird attributed with the mythical ability to extract milk from a mixture of milk and water or good from evil. InHindu iconography,hamsa is thevahana (orvehicle) ofBrahma,Gayatri,Saraswati, andVishvakarma.[3]
Asian language professorMonier Williams translates the term from Sanskrit as "a goose, gander, swan, flamingo (or other aquatic bird, considered as a bird of passage [migratory bird] ...)."[1] The word is also used for a mythical or poetical bird with knowledge. In theRig Veda, it is the bird which is able to separateSoma from water, when mixed; in later Indian literature, the bird separates milk from water when mixed.[1] In Indian philosophical literature,hamsa represents the individual soul or spirit (typified by the pure sunlight-white like color of a goose or swan), or the "Universal Soul or Supreme Spirit".[1]
The wordHamsa iscognate with Latin "(h)anser", Greek "χήν", German "Gans", Dutch "gans", English "goose", Spanish "ganso" and Russian "гусь".[4]
Jean Vogel, in 1952, questioned ifhamsa is indeed a swan, because according to Dutch ornithologistsGeorge Junge andE.D. van Oort he consulted, swans were rare in modern India whilebar-headed geese (Anser indicus) were common.[5] According to Vogel, Western and Indian scholars may have preferred translatinghamsa from Sanskrit to swan as the indigenous goose appears plump while the swan (and, Vogel adds, the flamingo) appears more graceful.[5]
Some[who?] have criticised Vogel's view as being over-reliant on artistic representations from south India and Sri Lanka, where the white swan is rare.[citation needed] American ornithologistPaul Johnsgard, in 2010, stated that mute swans (Cygnus Olor) do migrate to the northwestern Himalayan region of India every winter, migrating some 1000 miles each way.[6] Similarly, the British ornithologistPeter Scott, in hisKey to the Wildfowl of the World (1957),[needs update] states that northwestern India is one of the winter migration homes for mute swans, the others beingKorea and theBlack Sea.[7] Grewal, Harvey and Pfister, in 2003, state that the mute swan is "avagrant mainly in Pakistan but also northwestern India" and include a map marking their distribution.[8] Asad Rahmani and Zafar-ul Islam, in their 2009 book, describe the three species of swans and 39 species of ducks and geese found in India.[9]
Dave stated, "the present position according to Hume is that Swans do not occur anywhere within Indian limits outside the Himalayas except in the extreme North-West", and suggested that they were perhaps more common in the "hoary past."[10]
The hymns ofRigveda, verses in Hindu epics and Puranas, as well as other early Indian texts, states KN Dave, mention a variety of birds with the root ofhamsa (हंस), such as Maha-hamsa, Raj-hamsa, Kal-hamsa and others. These should be identified as members of theAnatidae family, namely swans, geese or ducks.[11] This identification is based on the details provided in the Sanskrit texts about the changes in plumage over the bird's life, described call, migratory habits, courtship rituals and flying patterns.[11] Specific examples where"hamsa" should be interpreted as "swan" include hymns 1.163, 3.8, 4.45, 8.35, 9.32 and others in theRigveda, verse 7.339 ofRamayana manjari, chapter 30.56 ofSkanda Purana, chapter 101.27 of thePadma Purana, and others. Dave also lists examples of Indian texts where "hamsa" should be interpreted as "goose". Some Sanskrit texts, states Dave, distinguish between"hamsa" and"kadamb", the former according to him being a swan and the latter a bar-headed goose.[11]
The Indian ornithologistSalim Ali stated in his Azad Memorial Lecture of 1979 that Sanskrit names for birds were based on their calls, coloration, habits, gait, method of feeding or other observed traits. However, these are sometimes difficult to assign unambiguously to species. He mentions 4th to 5th-centuryKalidasa's poem about Lake Manasa. This Manasa, assumes Salim Ali, isLake Manasarovar and then states that thehamsa birds therein should be interpreted as bar-headed geese that do migrate over the Himalayas from Tibet.[12] The historic Sanskrit andPrakrit literature of India does not mention the location of the lake Manasa that they consider the natural abode of thehamsa.
Ethno-ornithologists Sonia Tidemann and Andrew Gosler inEthno-ornithology: Birds, Indigenous Peoples, Culture and Society state thathamsa has been identified as "swans" in early Indian texts, and that titles such as Raja-hamsa were applied toascetics and holy-men in Indian culture because ancient Hindu and Buddhist stories ascribed the ability to separate good from evil to thehamsa.[13]
The birds painted at theAjanta Caves in central India (Maharashtra) on the Hamsa Jataka, as well as those inSanchi resemble a swan (and a series of swans in one panel), states theart historianC. Sivaramamurti. These early Buddhist arts can be dated between the 3rd century BCE and 5th century CE.[14] The text of the Jataka itself clearly describes white swans that are like clouds in a blue sky.[citation needed]
According toNanditha Krishna, thehamsa in the early north Indian tradition is best identified as a swan as the mythical symbol of wisdom. However, thehamsa became a popular motif included in temple artwork,textile prints and other artworks. It became a highly stylized mythical bird, with a plump body and short neck, along with flowery beak and tail, one that looks more like a goose.[15]
The hamsa is often identified with the Supreme Spirit, Ultimate Reality orBrahman inHinduism.[2] The flight of the hamsa symbolizesmoksha, the release from the cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation known assamsara.[16][17]
The hamsa is also thevahana (mount) ofSaraswati, the goddess of knowledge and creative arts,Brahma, the god of creation and one of theTrideva (Hindu trinity), andGayatri, the goddess of vedas.[3][16]
In view of the association of the hamsa with several attributes as indicated above, Hindurishis (sages) andsadhus (Hindu ascetic or holy person) have been given the title ofparamahamsa, that is, thesupreme hamsa. It connotes a particular person who has reached a high level of spirituality.[18][19]
For example,Paramahamsa Upanishad calls thatyogi a Paramahamsa who is neither opinionated nor affected by defamation, nor jealous, not a show off, is humble, and is oblivious to all the human frailties. He is immune to the existence of his body, which he treats as a corpse. He is beyond false pretensions and lives realizing the Brahman. In chapter 3, theParamahamsa Upanishad states that the one who understands the difference between "staff of knowledge" and "staff of wood", is aParamahamsa.[19]
He does not fear pain, nor longs for pleasure.
He forsakes love. He is not attached to the pleasant, nor to the unpleasant.
He does not hate. He does not rejoice.
Firmly fixed in knowledge, his Self is content, well-established within.
He is called the true Yogin. He is a knower.
His consciousness is permeated with that, the perfect bliss.
That Brahman I am, he knows it. He has that goal achieved.
Hamsa, or hansa, are part of Indian text.Arayanna, or heavenly hamsa (swans), are said to live inManasasaras in theHimalayas.[22] They are mentioned in the Hindu epic, theRamayana.[22] Hamsa, the swan, is part of the mythical love story ofNala andDamayanti, where it carries the stories, historical information and messages between the two strangers.[22]
In Indian text, it is said to eat pearls and separate milk from water from a mixture of the two.[23] Charles Lanman states that the references tohamsa being able to separate or discriminate is used primarily in a metaphorical sense in Sanskrit poetry. One possibility is the belief that the milk refers to the sap exuded from the stems of lotuses (kshira). The other, states Lanman, is that "the swan, goose, duck and flamingo have a series oflamellae which serve as a sieve for straining their food from the water that they take in". Thus, it may be referring to the bird's ability to extract the nourishing part from a mixture.[24]
The hamsa was also used extensively in the art ofGandhara, in conjunction with images of theShakyamuni Buddha. Nanditha Krishna translates this as swan, in the Gandharan context.[15] Martin Lerner and Steven Kossak identify a 2nd-century BCE Gandharan relief now in the collection of theMetropolitan Museum of Art (New York, item 1987.142.212) that shows a swan with a rider.[25]
The hamsa is deemed sacred in theBuddhism, as a symbol of wisdom.[15][26] Some scholars such as Donald Swearer translate it as swan,[27] others such as Thien Chou as goose.[28] In historicNepalese art, hamsa are either sketched as a swan or goose-like bird, while in historicTibetan artwork it appears as goose-like bird likely reflecting the Indian region from where the Tibetan monks borrowed their iconography.[26]
The name in other languages in which it is culturally important areHindi:hans,Kannada: "ಹಂಸ",Telugu: హంస,hamsaTamil:அன்னப்பறவை Aṉṉappaṟavai;Khmer:ហង្ស,hong;Burmese:ဟင်္သာ,IPA:[hɪ́ɰ̃θà], and commonly spelthintha orhinthar;Mon:ဟံသာ (ၜိုပ်),Mon pronunciation:[hɔŋsa] orhongsa;Shan:ႁင်းသႃႇ,Shan pronunciation:[haŋ˦sʰaː˨] orhangsa;Thai:hong (หงส์),Thai pronunciation:[hǒŋ]. It is also borrowed intoMalayangsa (Jawi: اڠسا), though modern definitions provided by dictionaries of its present literary standards differ: theMalaysian dictionaryKamus Dewan defines this specifically to theAnser genus especiallyA. albifrons whereas theIndonesian counterpartKamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia defines this towardsCygnus,[29] both mirroring Monier's varied interpretations of the original Sanskrit word itself.
The hintha (equivalent to hamsa) is widely depicted inBurmese art, considered to be aruddy shelduck in its culture, and has been adopted as the symbol of theMon people.[30][31] In parts ofMyanmar, thehintha iconography is more like a hen than a duck, reflecting the local fauna.[32]
In Hindu iconography the swan personifies Brahman-Atman, the transcendent yet immanent ground of being, the Self.
| Philosophy |
|  | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texts |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Deities |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Practices |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||||||||
.svg)