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HamsaGitaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

HamsaGita
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

HamsaGita(Sanskrit)(alsoreferredtoasUddhavaGita)consistsofKrishna'sfinaldiscourseto
UddhavabeforeKrishnadrawshisworldly'descent'(Sanskrit:avatar)and'pastimes'(Sanskrit:lila)to
completion.ThoughtheUddhavaGitaisoftenpublishedsingularlyasastandalonework,itisalso
evidentintheEleventhCantooftheBhagavataPuranacommencingfromverse40section6throughto
theendofsection29,comprisingmorethan1000'verses'(Sanskrit:shloka)andisconsideredpartofthe
Puranaliteratureproper.[1]ThisdiscourseimportantlycontainsthestoryofanAvadhutaandthoughit
doesnotstateexplicitlythenameofthispersonagewithinthesectionortheBhagavataPuranaasa
whole,VaishnavatraditionandthegreaterSanatanaDharmaauspiceascribethisagencytoDattatreya.

Contents
1 Manuscriptsandtextualnotes
2 Nomenclature,orthographyandetymology
3 Englishdiscourse
3.1 Englishrenderings
4 Primaryresources
4.1 Sanskrit
4.2 English
5 Notes
6 References
7 Externalcites

Manuscriptsandtextualnotes
ThenamesUddhavaGitaandHamsaGitaarepopularlyinterchangeablebutHamsaGitaalso
specificallydenotes(xi.1316)asubsetoftheUddhavaGitaandtheBhagavataPuranaproper.[2]

Nomenclature,orthographyandetymology
HamsaGita(Sanskrit)(alsoreferredtoasUddhavaGita)wherethehamsaisametaphorforthe
Paramahamsaaswellasanaturalteacherofgraceevidentinnature.Thehamsa(
,inSanskritand
oftenwrittenhansa)isaswanorgoose,oftenconsideredtobethemuteswan(Cygnusolor),butis
reallythebarheadedgoose(Anserindicus).ItisusedinIndiancultureasasymbolandadecorative
element.Theterm'gt'(literally"song"inSanskritDevanagari:).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa_Gita

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Englishdiscourse
Tigunait(2002:pp.3945)renderthenarrativeofthe24teachersofDattatreyaintheUddhavaGitainto
English.[3]ThoughtheconsensusofscholarsholdtheBhagavataPuranatobeacompositeworkofthe
oraltraditionofmanymouths,theVaishnavatraditionaswellastheBhagavataPuranaitselfuphold
thatitwasscribedbyVyasadeva.[4]Thatsaid,thenarratoroftheHamsaGitaisthesageShuka,sonof
Vyasadeva.[5]Itisimportanttonotethateveniftheworkiscomposite,thatit"...doesnotshowthelack
ofcohesionorcompactnessthatmustmarktheworkhandledbymanywriters..."saysUpadhyayainthe
ForwardtoBrown&Saraswati(2000:p.8)andthenUpadhyayamoreoveropinesthatwhosoeverthe
poetoftheHamsaGitaandtheBhagavataPuranamaybethat"[h]ereisapoetwhousespatternand
metaphorinacomplexcraftsmanshiptocreatearitualofcelebration."[6]Haigh(2007:p.127)inhis
openingparagraphtohisworkontheUddhavaGitaframesitsimportasamodelofenvironmental
education:
SriDattatreya,whoLordKrishnaquotesinTheUddhavaGita,hasbeenevokedasaguru
forenvironmentaleducation.SriDattatreyagainedenlightenmentbyobservingtheworld,
whichprovidedHimwith24instructors.ThesetaughtHimthefutilityofmundane
attachments,thebenefitsofcontemplationandforebearance[sic],andapathtowardsthe
spiritualselfrealizationoftheSupreme.SriDattatreya,anincarnationofLordVishnu,
featuresinseveralPuranaswhereHisteachingsinvolvedirectchallengestothepretensions
andprejudicesofthelearner.Hiscoremessageis"neverjudgebysurfaceappearancesbut
alwaysseekadeeperTruth":theEarthissacred,anaspectofGod,andapuzzlethat
challengesthespiritualselftoawakentoitstruenature.[7]
Paramahamsa(2008:unpaginated)arraysasuiteofGitaliteratureenshrinedandsubsumedwithinthe
auspiceoftheSrimadBhagavataandholdsthattheyareallsongsofMonism:
"TheGitasthatfindplaceinSrimadBhagavatasuchastheUddhavaGita,theRudraGita,
theBhikshuGita,theSrutiGita,theHamsaGitapropoundMonismastheessenceoftheir
philosophy."[8]

Englishrenderings
Upadhyaya,intheForewordtoBrown&Saraswati(2000:p.8)holdsthatSaraswati(thatis
Ambikananda)whoherselfisasannyasinandtookthisashramafromaveryyoungage,writesthus:
SwamiAmbikananda'ssuccessinrenderingtheworkintometricalcompositionisatribute
totheversatilityofSanskritandthelucidityoftheoriginalwriting.Themethodofher
translationismarkedbytwoconsiderations.Shehassoughttofindcloseequivalents,
keepinginviewboththeformalanddynamicaspectsofthelanguageandherinterpretative
translationaimsatcompletenaturalnessofexpression,pointingthereadertothemodesof
behaviourwithinthecontextofhisorherownculture.[9]
SarasvatiinBrownandSarasvati(2000:p.14)holdsthatitwasbothVenkatesananda(19211982)and
hisgurujiSivananda(18871963)thatopenedherhearttothiswork:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa_Gita

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ItwasSwamiSivanandaandSwamiVenkatesanandawhoopenedmyhearttothissacred
text,andtheirteachingthatenabledmetoundertakethistranslation,whichattemptsto
conveyitsmessagetoallspiritualseekers.[10]

Primaryresources
Sanskrit
UddhavaGita@WikisourceinDevanagariUnicode
(http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%
A4%B5%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE)
HamsaGita@WikisourceinDevanagariUnicode
(http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%97%E0%A
5%80%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE)

English
TheUddhavaGitabyInternationalGitaSocietyPDFversion(http://www.gita
society.com/scriptures/THEUDDHAVAGITA.IGS.pdf)

Notes
1. Brown,ManishaWilmette(editor,author)&Saraswati,Ambikananda(translator)(2000).TheUddhavaGita.
FrancesLincolnLtd.ISBN0711216169,ISBN9780711216167.WithaForwardbyProf.Vachaspati
Upadhyaya,ViceChancellor,LalBahadurSanskritUniversity,NewDelhi.Source:[1]
(http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1
srMWYhV0IC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false)
(accessed:Mondaymarch8,2010)
2. RamanandVidyaBhawan(n.d.).TheIndianhistoricalquarterly.Volume2,Issues34.RamanandVidya
Bhawan.Source:[2](http://books.google.com.au/books?
id=9i0KAQAAIAAJ&q=hamsa+gita&dq=hamsa+gita&ei=lPaUS6zcKY6alATOjYzfAQ&client=opera&cd=2)
(accessed:TuesdayMarch9,2010)p.537
3. Tigunait,Rajmani(2002).TheHimalayanMasters:ALivingTradition.HimalayanInstitutePress.ISBN0
893892270,ISBN9780893892272.Source:[3](http://books.google.com.au/books?
id=gukW2iojhrQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Ashtavakra+Gita&source=gbs_book_similarbooks#v=onep
age&q=&f=false)(accessed:FridayMarch19,2010)
4. Brown,ManishaWilmette(editor,author)&Saraswati,Ambikananda(translator)(2000).TheUddhavaGita.
FrancesLincolnLtd.WithaForwardbyProf.VachaspatiUpadhyaya,ViceChancellor,LalBahadurSanskrit
University,NewDelhi.ISBN0711216169,ISBN9780711216167.Source:[4]
(http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1srMWYhV0IC&q=dattatreya#v=onepage&q=avadhuta&f=false)
(accessed:MondayMarch8,2010),p.8
5. Brown,ManishaWilmette(editor,author)&Saraswati,Ambikananda(translator)(2000).TheUddhavaGita.
FrancesLincolnLtd.WithaForwardbyProf.VachaspatiUpadhyaya,ViceChancellor,LalBahadurSanskrit
University,NewDelhi.ISBN0711216169,ISBN9780711216167.Source:[5]
(http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1
srMWYhV0IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Manisha+Wilmette+Brown&source=bl&ots=c0D96MsOF6&sig=
qyH6wNpAw44dCeCuC459SXV5ws&hl=en&ei=G9qUS4iXNcqLkAXrpqmcDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=
result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false)(accessed:MondayMarch8,2010),p.17
6. Brown,ManishaWilmette(editor,author)&Saraswati,Ambikananda(translator)(2000).TheUddhavaGita.
FrancesLincolnLtd.WithaForwardbyProf.VachaspatiUpadhyaya,ViceChancellor,LalBahadurSanskrit
University,NewDelhi.ISBN0711216169,ISBN9780711216167.Source:[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa_Gita

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7.
8.
9.

10.

HamsaGitaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

(http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1srMWYhV0IC&q=dattatreya#v=onepage&q=avadhuta&f=false)
(accessed:MondayMarch8,2010)
Haigh,Martin(2007).'SriDattatreya's24Gurus:LearningfromtheWorldinHinduTradition'.Canadian
JournalofEnvironmentalEducationVolume12,Number1,2007.Source:[7]
(http://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/index.php/cjee/article/view/627/518)(accessed:MondayMarch8,2010),p.127
Paramahamsa,K.R.(2008).EkamSAT5.TotalRecallPublications,Incorporated.ISBN159095873X,
9781590958735Source:[8](http://www.trcb.com/religion/hinduism/introductiontohamsagita962.htm)
(accessed:MondayMarch8,2010)
Brown,ManishaWilmette(editor)&Saraswati,Ambikananda(translator)(2000).TheUddhavaGita.
FrancesLincolnLtd.ISBN0711216169,ISBN9780711216167.WithaForwardbyProf.Vachaspati
Upadhyaya,ViceChancellor,LalBahadurSanskritUniversity,NewDelhi.Source:[9]
(http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1srMWYhV0IC&q=dattatreya#v=onepage&q=dattatreya&f=false)
(accessed:MondayMarch8,2010)
Brown,ManishaWilmette(editor)&Saraswati,Ambikananda(translator)(2000).TheUddhavaGita.
FrancesLincolnLtd.ISBN0711216169,ISBN9780711216167.WithaForwardbyProf.Vachaspati
Upadhyaya,ViceChancellor,LalBahadurSanskritUniversity,NewDelhi.Source:[10]
(http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1srMWYhV0IC&q=dattatreya#v=onepage&q=&f=false)(accessed:
MondayMarch8,2010),p.14

References
Haigh,Martin(2007).'SriDattatreya's24Gurus:LearningfromtheWorldinHinduTradition'.
CanadianJournalofEnvironmentalEducationvolume12,number1,2007:pp.127142.Source:
[11](http://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/index.php/cjee/article/view/627/518)(accessed:MondayMarch8,
2010)
Paramahamsa,K.R.(2008).EkamSAT5.TotalRecallPublications,Incorporated.ISBN159095
873X,9781590958735Source:[12](http://books.google.com.au/books?
id=ify9OQAACAAJ&dq=K.+R.+Paramahamsa+hamsa+gita&ei=LMmUS_qNDYTmlASfltGSB
A&client=opera&cd=1)(accessed:MondayMarch8,2010)

Externalcites
[13](http://www.scribd.com/doc/22837537/AQuintessenceofUddhavaGitapdf)
ReadtheUddhavaGitaEnglishtranslation.(http://www.astrojyoti.com/bhagavatam11b.htm)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamsa_Gita&oldid=664160040"
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