By Srimati Karuna
Hamsa is the Sacred Swan. Many poetic images are derived from the flight of the swan to an abode at Manasarovar Lake in the Himalayas. In the Hamsa Jataka, the swan symbolizes wisdom and loyalty. And the Goddess, Sarasawati, rides the sacred swan that can separate milk from water, a symbol of discernment and detachment. It represents discernment because the sacred swan, if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to separate milk from the water and drink the milk alone. The swan thus symbolizes the ability to discern the eternal from the ephemeral.
Mahatma Gandhi often repeated the words from Tulsidas’ Ramayana: ”All things - with or without life - the Lord has created with their good and bad points. The wise like the discerning swan separate the good milk and reject the adulterating water.” Beyond the relative knowledge of the mind is the pure consciousness of soul which enlightens our reason, instinct and intuition.
The hamsa also symbolizes detachment because though swans need water for their survival, they can always fly away without a drop of water burdening their wings. The flight of the swan relates to moksha, freedom or liberation. This release from Samsara is represented by its freedom to travel between heaven and earth. This hamsa, a migratory bird, symbolizes the transcendent and is thus identified with the Supreme Spirit or Brahman.
In Sanskrit, Soham or Sohum means “I am That." It is identification with the Ultimate Reality. The mantra is also inverted from so 'ham (saḥ + aham) to ham + sa (“That I am.”) The combination of so ‘haṃ and haṃsa has also been interpreted as "I myself am the Swan.” HAMSA is also HONGSWA.
“The flame of pure-consciousness is eternally ignited within this body. By the meditation of Hong-Swa, all delusion having been dispelled, the Self is revealed in its effulgent glory. In the realization of oneness with Brahman, the Self, man transcends death. There is no path other than this to the attainment of immortality and bliss…The Supreme Self is Hong Swa, which leads to the realization of SOHONG in wisdom and bliss.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad, Ch 6:16 and 3:18)
“O Thou self-manifested cause and substance of creation, O Thou indwelling Self of all, Thou source of illumination, guide me beyond Thy rays of creation, transport me beyond Thy objective form that, by Thy grace, I may behold Thy glorious Self: That absolute Self abiding in the transcendental effulgence, verily, I am That.” (Isha Upanishad, v16)
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras also refer to viveka or discernment. It is that mental state which is capable of discerning what is true from what is false, what is permanent from what is fleeting, and what brings suffering from what does not. Viveka is considered as the first requirement in the spiritual journey. Vivekachudamani is a text, attributed to Adi Shankaracharya. It means the “crest-jewel of discrimination” and it discusses the viveka, discrimination or discernment, between the Real (unchanging, eternal) and the unreal (changing, temporal) and reflects on the oneness of Atman and Brahman. The next requirement in this journey of Self-Realization is vairagya or detachment. It is a natural extension of viveka. Hence, we come to recognize in the symbol of the HAMSA, realization derived from viveka and vairagya, discernment and detachment.
The swan can tell us the good from the bad
Floating on a pond near a lily pad
As graceful and beautiful as silk
Separating water mixed with milk
The swan will tell us of its role
To reflect freedom of the soul
At home on water and on land
At ease in all ways, small and grand
Of spirit or matter, body or mind
Arise, every one! Awake, every kind!