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{{short description|Species of aquatic bird mentioned in ancient Indian texts}}

[[File:Hamsa, Goose or Swan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.65|Hamsa is thought to refer to the [[bar-headed goose]] found in India (left) or a species of swan.<ref name=monier/>]]

The '''{{IAST|haṃsa}}''' ([[Sanskrit]]: हंस ''{{IAST|haṃsa}}'' or ''hansa'') is an [[aquatic bird|aquatic]] [[migratory bird]], referred to in ancient Sanskrit texts which various scholars have interpreted as being based on the [[goose]], the [[swan]],<ref name="jones">{{cite book|first=Lindsay |last=Jones |year=2005 |title=Encyclopedia of religion, Volume 13 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan Reference]] |isbn=978-0028657332 |page=8894 |quote=In Hindu iconography the swan personifies Brahman-Atman, the transcendent yet immanent ground of being, the Self.}}</ref> or even the [[flamingo]].<ref name="monier"/><ref name="cush">{{cite book|first=Denise |last=Cush |year=2007 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0415556231 |page=697}}</ref> Its image is used in [[Indian culture|Indian]] and [[Culture of Southeast Asia|Southeast 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. In [[Hindu iconography]], ''hamsa'' is the [[vahana]] (or ''vehicle'') of [[Brahma]], [[Gayatri]], [[Saraswati]], and [[Vishvakarma]].<ref name=cush/>
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}

== Identification ==
Asian language professor [[Monier Williams]] translates the term from Sanskrit as "a goose, gander, swan, flamingo (or other aquatic bird, considered as a bird of passage [migratory bird] ...)."<ref name="monier">{{cite dictionary |first=Monier|last=Monier-Williams|author-link=Monier Monier-Williams |dictionary=Monier Williams Sanskrit Dictionary |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/1300/mw__1319.html |title=हंस, Hamsa |date=2001 |publisher=[[University of Cologne]] |location=Germany |isbn=978-8120615090 |pages=1286}}</ref> The word is also used for a mythical or poetical bird with knowledge. In the [[Rig Veda]], it is the bird which is able to separate [[Soma (drink)|Soma]] from water, when mixed; in later Indian literature, the bird separates milk from water when mixed.<ref name=monier/> 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".<ref name=monier/>

The word ''Hamsa'' is [[cognate]] with Latin "(h)anser", Greek "χήν", German "Gans", Dutch "gans", English "goose", Spanish "ganso" and Russian "гусь".<ref>{{cite dictionary |first=J. |last=Pokorny |dictionary=[[Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch]] |url=http://indo-european.info/pokorny-etymological-dictionary/index.htm#ĝhan-s.htm |title=*ĝhan-s- |language=de |access-date=2017-01-16 |archive-date=2022-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511072751/http://indo-european.info/pokorny-etymological-dictionary/index.htm#ĝhan-s.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Swan or goose controversy ==
[[J. Ph. Vogel|Jean Vogel]], in 1952, questioned if ''hamsa'' is indeed a swan, because according to Dutch ornithologists [[George Junge]] and [[Eduard Daniël van Oort|E.D. van Oort]] he consulted, swans were rare in modern India while [[Bar-headed goose|bar-headed geese]] (''[[Anser indicus]]'') were common.<ref name=vogel/> According to Vogel, Western and Indian scholars may have preferred translating ''hamsa'' from Sanskrit to swan as the indigenous goose appears plump while the swan (and, Vogel adds, the flamingo) appears more graceful.<ref name=vogel>{{cite book|first=Jean P. |last=Vogel |url=https://archive.org/details/TheGooseInIndianLiteratureAndArt |title=The Goose in Indian Literature and Art (Arts & Letters, Vol. XXVII, 1952 |edition=Reprint |publisher=E. J. Brill|place=Leiden |year=1962 |pages=1–2}}</ref>

[[File:Tile with hamsa bird, inner court of the Palace of Panduvasnuvara, central Sri Lanka, 12th century AD, terracotta - Linden-Museum - Stuttgart, Germany - DSC03737.jpg|thumb|A tile with a hamsa bird with flowery tail from Sri Lanka, c. 12th century CE]]
Some{{who|date=August 2021}} 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|date=August 2021}} American ornithologist [[Paul Johnsgard]], in 2010, stated that mute swans ([[Mute swan|Cygnus Olor]]) do migrate to the northwestern Himalayan region of India every winter, migrating some 1000 miles each way.<ref>[http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=biosciducksgeeseswans Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World] Paul Johnsgard (2010), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, page 29-31</ref> Similarly, the British ornithologist [[Peter Scott]], in his ''Key to the Wildfowl of the World'' (1957),{{Update inline|date=August 2021}} states that northwestern India is one of the winter migration homes for mute swans, the others being [[Korea]] and the [[Black Sea]].<ref>Peter Scott (1957), Key to the Wildfowl of the World, Collins, Plate II, {{ISBN|978-0002201100}}, {{oclc|867723645}}</ref> Grewal, Harvey and Pfister, in 2003, state that the mute swan is "a [[Vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]] mainly in Pakistan but also northwestern India" and include a map marking their distribution.<ref>Grewal, Harvey and Pfister (2003), ''A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India'', [[Princeton University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0691114965}}, page 58</ref> 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.<ref>Asad Rahmani and M. Zafar-ul Islam (2009), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9EhVPgAACAAJ Ducks, Geese And Swans of India]'', Oxford University Press and IBCN, {{ISBN|9780198060338}}, Chapters 5–7</ref>

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."<ref>KN Dave (2005), ''Birds in Sanskrit Literature'', Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120818422, page 423.</ref>

{{multiple image
| direction = horizontal
| total_width = 300px
| image1 = Brahma on hamsa.jpg |caption1=Himachal Pradesh painting (c. 1700 CE)
| image2 = 1825 CE Brahma and Saraswati on Hamsa, South Indian Painting.jpg |caption2=South Indian painting (c. 1825 CE)
| footer = Paintings of Brahma on a ''hamsa''
}}
The hymns of [[Rigveda]], verses in Hindu epics and Puranas, as well as other early Indian texts, states KN Dave, mention a variety of birds with the root of ''hamsa'' (हंस), such as Maha-hamsa, Raj-hamsa, Kal-hamsa and others. These should be identified as members of the [[Anatidae]] family, namely swans, geese or ducks.<ref name=dave422/> 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.<ref name=dave422>KN Dave (2005), ''Birds in Sanskrit Literature'', Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120818422, pages 422-447 with footnotes.</ref> Specific examples where ''"hamsa''" should be interpreted as "swan" include hymns 1.163, 3.8, 4.45, 8.35, 9.32 and others in the ''Rigveda'', verse 7.339 of ''Ramayana manjari'', chapter 30.56 of ''Skanda Purana'', chapter 101.27 of the ''Padma 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.<ref name=dave422/>

The Indian ornithologist [[Salim 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-century [[Kalidasa]]'s poem about Lake Manasa. This Manasa, assumes Salim Ali, is [[Lake Manasarovar]] and then states that the ''hamsa'' birds therein should be interpreted as bar-headed geese that do migrate over the Himalayas from Tibet.<ref>{{cite book|first=Salim |last=Ali |title=Bird study in India: Its history and its importance |url=https://archive.org/details/AzadMemorialBirds/page/n22/mode/1up/ |year=1979 |publisher=ICCR |place=New Delhi}}</ref> The historic Sanskrit and [[Prakrit]] literature of India does not mention the location of the lake Manasa that they consider the natural abode of the ''hamsa''.

[[Ethnoornithology|Ethno-ornithologists]] Sonia Tidemann and Andrew Gosler in ''Ethno-ornithology: Birds, Indigenous Peoples, Culture and Society'' state that ''hamsa'' has been identified as "swans" in early Indian texts, and that titles such as Raja-hamsa were applied to [[Asceticism|ascetics]] and holy-men in Indian culture because ancient Hindu and Buddhist stories ascribed the ability to separate good from evil to the ''hamsa''.<ref name="Tidemannp145">{{cite book |last1=Tidemann |first1=Sonia C. |last2=Gosler |first2=Andrew |title=Ethno-ornithology: Birds, Indigenous Peoples, Culture and Society |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-54383-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9n5DFxOnjIC&pg=PA145 |pages=145–146}}</ref>

The birds painted at the [[Ajanta Caves]] in central India ([[Maharashtra]]) on the Hamsa Jataka, as well as those in [[Sanchi]] resemble a swan (and a series of swans in one panel), states the [[art historian]] [[C. Sivaramamurti]]. These early Buddhist arts can be dated between the 3rd century BCE and 5th century CE.<ref name="Sivaramamurti1974">{{cite book |last=Sivaramamurti |first=C. |title=Birds and Animals in Indian Sculpture |publisher=National Museum |year=1974 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wn1QAAAAMAAJ |pages=62–67, with Figures 64a, 64b, 68}}</ref> The text of the Jataka itself clearly describes white swans that are like clouds in a blue sky.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

According to [[Nanditha Krishna]], the ''hamsa'' in the early north Indian tradition is best identified as a swan as the mythical symbol of wisdom. However, the ''hamsa'' became a popular motif included in temple artwork, [[Textile printing|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.<ref name="Krishna2014"/>

==In Hinduism==
The hamsa is often identified with the Supreme Spirit, Ultimate Reality or [[Brahman]] in [[Hinduism]].<ref name=jones/> The flight of the hamsa symbolizes [[moksha]], the release from the cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation known as [[samsara]].<ref name=bowker>John Bowker (1998), Picturing God, Series Editor: Jean Holm, Bloomsbury Academic, {{ISBN|978-1855671010}}, pp 99-101</ref><ref>Richard Leviton (2011), Hierophantic Landscapes, {{ISBN|978-1462054145}}, pp 543</ref>

The hamsa is also the [[vahana]] (mount) of [[Saraswati]], the goddess of knowledge and creative arts, [[Brahma]], the god of creation and one of the [[Trideva]] (Hindu trinity), and [[Gayatri]], the goddess of vedas.<ref name=cush/><ref name=bowker/>

=== Paramahamsa ===
{{main|Paramahamsa Upanishad|Hamsa Upanishad}}
In view of the association of the hamsa with several attributes as indicated above, Hindu [[rishi]]s (sages) and [[sadhu]]s (Hindu ascetic or holy person) have been given the title of ''paramahamsa'', that is, the ''supreme hamsa''. It connotes a particular person who has reached a high level of spirituality.{{Sfn|Deussen|1997|pp=717–720}}{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp=137–140}}

For example, ''[[Paramahamsa Upanishad]]'' calls that [[yogi]] 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, the ''Paramahamsa Upanishad'' states that the one who understands the difference between "staff of knowledge" and "staff of wood", is a [[Paramahamsa]].{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp=137–140}}

{{Quote|
<poem>
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.
</poem>
|Paramahamsa Upanishad, Chapter 4 (Abridged)|{{sfn|Olivelle|1992|pp=137–140}}{{Sfn|Deussen|1997|pp=753-755}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_upanishhat/paramahamsa_upan.html?lang=sa |title=परमहंसोपनिषत् |trans-title=Paramahansa Upanishad |language=hi |access-date=7 January 2016 |publisher=sanskritdocuments.org |page=॥ ४॥, verse 4}}</ref>}}

=== In Indian text ===
Hamsa, or hansa, are part of Indian text. ''Arayanna'', or heavenly hamsa (swans), are said to live in ''Manasasaras'' in the [[Himalayas]].<ref name=george/> They are mentioned in the Hindu epic, the [[Ramayana]].<ref name=george/> Hamsa, the swan, is part of the mythical love story of [[Nala]] and [[Damayanti]], where it carries the stories, historical information and messages between the two strangers.<ref name=george>{{cite book|first=George |last=Williams |date=2001 |title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology |isbn=978-1576071069 |pages=58–59|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref>

In Indian text, it is said to eat pearls and separate milk from water from a mixture of the two.<ref>Helen Myers (1999), Music of Hindu Trinidad: Songs from the India Diaspora, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0226554532}}, page 4</ref> Charles Lanman states that the references to ''hamsa'' 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 of [[Lamellae (zoology)|lamellae]] 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.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lanman |first=Charles R. |date=1898 |title=The Milk-Drinking Haṅsas of Sanskrit Poetry |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/592478 |journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] |volume=19 |pages=151–158 |doi=10.2307/592478 |jstor=592478 |issn=0003-0279|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Buddhism ==
The hamsa was also used extensively in the art of [[Gandhara]], in conjunction with images of the [[Shakyamuni Buddha]]. Nanditha Krishna translates this as swan, in the Gandharan context.<ref name="Krishna2014">{{cite book |last=Krishna |first=N. |title=Sacred Animals of India |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-81-8475-182-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DF_af8_547EC |chapter=Swan}}</ref> Martin Lerner and Steven Kossak identify a 2nd-century BCE Gandharan relief now in the collection of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York, item 1987.142.212) that shows a swan with a rider.<ref name="Lerner">{{cite book |last1=Lerner |first1=M. |last2=Kossak |first2=S. |title=The Lotus Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-87099-613-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVoKd9vDSxsC |page=62}}</ref>

The hamsa is deemed sacred in the [[Buddhism]], as a symbol of wisdom.<ref name="Krishna2014"/><ref name="Gasparini">{{cite book |last=Gasparini |first=M. |title=Transcending Patterns: Silk Road Cultural and Artistic Interactions through Central Asian Textile Images |publisher=[[University of Hawai'i Press]] |series=Perspectives on the Global Past |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-8248-7798-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FvGDwAAQBAJ |pages=111–112}}</ref> Some scholars such as Donald Swearer translate it as swan,<ref name="Swearer">{{cite book |last=Swearer |first=D.K. |title=Becoming the Buddha: The Ritual of Image Consecration in Thailand |publisher=Princeton University Press |series=Buddhisms: A Princeton University Press Series |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-691-21602-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ql3sDwAAQBAJ |pages=56–58}}</ref> others such as Thien Chou as goose.<ref name="Chau">{{cite book |last1=Châu |first1=T. |last2=Boin-Webb |first2=S. |title=The Literature of the Personalists of Early Buddhism |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |series=Buddhist traditions |year=1999 |isbn=978-81-208-1622-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ENiK2quJcyYC&pg=PA22 |page=22}}</ref> In historic [[Art of Nepal|Nepalese art]], hamsa are either sketched as a swan or goose-like bird, while in historic [[Tibetan artwork]] it appears as goose-like bird likely reflecting the Indian region from where the Tibetan monks borrowed their iconography.<ref name="Gasparini"/>

== Contemporary usage ==
The name in other languages in which it is culturally important are [[Hindi]]: ''hans'', [[Kannada]]: "ಹಂಸ", [[Telugu language|Telugu]]: హంస, ''hamsa'' [[Tamil language|Tamil]]: ''அன்னப்பறவை'' Aṉṉappaṟavai; {{langx|km|ហង្ស}}, ''hong''; {{langx|my|ဟင်္သာ}}, {{IPA|my|hɪ́ɰ̃θà|IPA}}, and commonly spelt ''hintha'' or ''hinthar''; {{langx|mnw|ဟံသာ (ၜိုပ်)}}, {{IPA|mnw|hɔŋsa}} or ''hongsa''; [[Shan language|Shan]]: {{lang|my|ႁင်းသႃႇ}}, {{IPA|shn|haŋ˦ sʰaː˨}} or ''hangsa''; [[Thai language|Thai]]: ''hong'' (หงส์), {{IPA|th|hǒŋ}}. It is also borrowed into [[Malay language|Malay]] ''angsa'' ([[Jawi script|Jawi]]: اڠسا), though modern definitions provided by dictionaries of its present literary standards differ: the [[Malaysian language|Malaysian]] dictionary ''Kamus Dewan'' defines this specifically to the ''[[Anser (genus)|Anser]]'' genus especially ''[[Anser albifrons|A. albifrons]]'' whereas the [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] counterpart ''Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia'' defines this towards ''[[Cygnus (genus)|Cygnus]]'',<ref>Compare sources in:
* {{cite dictionary |title=angsa|year=2017|dictionary=Kamus Dewan|publisher=Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Malaysia |url=https://prpm.dbp.gov.my/Cari1?keyword=angsa |edition=4th |access-date=29 March 2022}}

* {{Cite dictionary|year=2016|title=angsa|dictionary=Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia|publisher=Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia|url=https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id/entri/angsa|edition=3rd}}</ref> both mirroring Monier's varied interpretations of the original Sanskrit word itself.

The hintha (equivalent to hamsa) is widely depicted in [[Burmese art]], considered to be a [[ruddy shelduck]] in its culture, and has been adopted as the symbol of the [[Mon people]].<ref>Sylvia Fraser-Lu (1994), Burmese Crafts: Past and Present, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195886085}}, page 116</ref><ref>Robert Reid and Michael Grosberg (2005), Myanma (Burma), {{ISBN|978-1740596954}}, page 140</ref> In parts of [[Myanmar]], the ''hintha'' iconography is more like a hen than a duck, reflecting the local fauna.<ref>Pascal Christel (2020), Splendour of Buddhism in Burma, Patridge Singapore, {{ISBN|9781543758177}}, pages 79–84 with figures</ref>

== Gallery ==
{{commons category|Hamsa}}
<gallery>
File:KanishkaCasket.JPG|Hamsa border on the [[Kanishka casket]], 2nd century CE
File:BimaranCasket.JPG|Hamsa birds between the architectural spires on the [[Bimaran casket]], 1st century CE
File:1895 CE Saraswati on hamsa सरस्वती हंस painting 2.jpg|Saraswati with a hamsa (c. 1895, British Library)
File:1895 CE Saraswati on hamsa सरस्वती हंस painting.jpg|Sarasvati with a hamsa (19th-century, British Library)
File:2 Hindu deity Sarasvati Saraswati on ceramic tile in Munnar Kerala India March 2014.jpg|Sarasvati and a hamsa (Kerala tile)
File:Ravi Varma-Princess Damayanthi talking with Royal Swan about Nala.jpg|Hamsa talking to [[Damayanti]] as depicted by [[Raja Ravi Varma]] (19th century)
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* ''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' ({{ISBN|0-500-51088-1}}) by Anna Dallapiccola
* {{cite book|last=Deussen |first=Paul |title=Sixty Upanishads of the Veda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYepeIGUY0gC&pg=PA757 |year=1997 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-8120814677}}
* {{cite book|first=Patrick |last=Olivelle |year=1992 |title=The Samnyasa Upanisads |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0195070453}}

{{Hindudharma}}
{{Buddhism topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamsa (Bird)}}
[[Category:Legendary birds]]
[[Category:Culture of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Legendary creatures in Hindu mythology]]

Hamsa bird - Revision history

Infycle Technologies at 09:50, 31 July 2025