page_title: Hamsa Upanishad
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Hamsa Upanishad / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: English: Cygnus olor at the Johannes Brahms Promenade, municipality Poertschach on the Lake Woerth, district Klagenfurt Land, Carinthia / Austria / EU Deutsch: Höckerschwan an der Johannes-Brahms-Promenade, Gemeinde Pörtschach am Wörther See, Bezirk Klagenfurt Land, Kärnten / Österreich / EU
context_page_description: The Hamsa Upanishad is a Sanskrit text and a minor Upanishad of Hinduism. It is classified as one of the twenty Yoga Upanishads, and attached to the Shukla Yajurveda. The text or parts of the text is a relatively late origin, probably from the 2nd-millennium of the common era, but written before early 17th-century, because Dara Shikoh included it in the Persian translation of the Upanishads as Oupanekhat, spelling it as Hensnad.
  The Hamsa Upanishad is structured as a disorganized medley of ideas, in the form of a discourse between Hindu sage Gautama and the divine Sanatkumara, on the knowledge of Hamsa-vidya as a prelude to Brahmavidya. The text describes the sound of Om, its relation to Hamsa, and how meditating on this prepares one on the journey towards realizing Paramahamsa.
  Several versions of the Hamsa Upanishad exist, of which the Calcutta and Poona editions have been most studied. The layout and some verses vary, but the message is similar. The text is listed at number 15 in the serial order of the Muktika enumerated by Rama to Hanuman in the modern era anthology of 108 Upanishads. It is also called the Hamsopanishad.
context_section_description: According to Paul Deussen, Hamsa in Indian tradition can refer to the migrating "goose, swan or flamingo", and symbolizes the "migrating soul" or reincarnating soul.
  The word Hamsa as a symbolism for Atman and moksha appears in numerous ancient texts of Hinduism. Vogel suggested in 1952, that Hamsa in Hindu texts could be symbolism for goose, rather than swan. Dave, in 2005, stated that the hymns of Rigveda, and verses in Hindu Epics and Puranas mention a variety of birds with the root of hamsa (हंस), such as Maha-hamsa, Raj-hamsa, Kal-hamsa and others, most of which relate to various species of swans particularly mute swan, while some refer to geese. Dave's identification is based on the details provided in the Sanskrit texts about the changes in plumage over the bird's life, described voice, migratory habits, courtship rituals and flying patterns. Some Sanskrit texts, states Dave, distinguish between Hamsa and Kadamb, the former being swan and latter as bar-headed goose. Regardless of whether it is goose or swan, the word in the title is symbolism for something that migrates, is transcendent.
  The text title likely refers to it being a treatise for individual soul, seeking the highest soul (Paramahamsa).
caption: Hamsa refers to a migratory bird, such as "swan, goose, flamingo", it reflects Om symbol, and symbolizes Atman.[9]
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