Study a Verse

• Haṁsa means “swan,” and the specific ability of the swan is to separate a mixture of milk and water, extracting the rich, milky portion.
• Similarly, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared as Haṁsa, or the swan, in order to separate the pure consciousness of Lord Brahmā from the modes of material nature.

The purport's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

Uncertainty → Clarity. The coming separation makes the instruction personally urgent.

Chapters 10–20 of Canto 11: Kṛṣṇa's teachings on self, yoga and wisdom. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 13: The Haṁsa-avatāra Answers the Questions of the Sons of Brahmā

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

The three modes increase their different influences through various types of scripture, water, place, time, beneficiaries of activity, natures of activity, birth, meditation, mantras, purificatory rituals, and so on. Lacking discrimination, one identifies with the material body, and consequently the mode of passion, which produces misery, takes over the mind, which is normally in the mode of goodness.