तत्र परमहंसा नाम संवर्तकारुणिश्वेतकेतुदूर्वासऋभुनिदाघदत्तात्रेयशुकवामदेवहारीतकप्रभृतयोऽव्यक्तलिङ्गाऽव्यक्ताचारा अनुन्मत्ता उन्मत्तवदाचरन्तः परस्त्रीपुरपराङ्मुखास्त्रिदण्डं कमण्डलुं भुक्तपात्रं जलपवित्रं शिखां यज्ञोपवीतं
tatra paramahaṃsā nāma saṃvartakāruṇiśvetaketudūrvāsaṛbhunidāghadattātreyaśukavāmadevahārītakaprabhṛtayo'vyaktaliṅgā'vyaktācārā anunmattā unmattavadācarantaḥ parastrīpuraparāṅmukhāstridaṇḍaṃ kamaṇḍaluṃ bhuktapātraṃ jalapavitraṃ śikhāṃ yajñopavītaṃ
There, those called paramahaṃsas — Saṃvartaka, Āruṇi, Śvetaketu, Durvāsas, Ṛbhu, Nidāgha, Dattātreya, Śuka, Vāmadeva, Hārītaka, and the rest — with unmanifest marks, with unmanifest conduct, not mad, but acting as if mad, averse to others' wives and to cities — a trident, a water-pot, a bowl, a strainer, the tuft, the sacred thread …
65e829457800 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The paramahaṃsas, "supreme swans," the highest class of the renounced, are named, and ten are listed by name. It is worth examining the definition, for it is unusual: avyakta-liṅga avyaktācāra, "with unmanifest marks, with unmanifest conduct." That is, the highest class has no distinguishing signs: one cannot tell by looking who he is.
This position, considered closely, cancels everything just said in the previous line about faded clothing and a shaven head. And it is added still more sharply: anunmattā unmattavad ācarantaḥ, "not mad, but acting as if mad." That is, they deliberately behave so as not to be taken for holy men.
This device has its own name and its own models in Indian literature: such is Jaḍa-bharata, who feigned dullness, and Dattātreya, named here as well. The Vaiṣṇava side knows this device and explains it thus, and the explanation is worth citing. Being honored is the gravest of hindrances: a person who is honored begins to guard his position; and so the accomplished sometimes deliberately behave so as to be left in peace.
Let us add the qualification she makes, for it is necessary. An impostor too can feign madness; and it is impossible to tell him from the genuine one from outside. Hence her rule is this: this cannot be imitated, and anyone who deliberately acts strangely to pass for a paramahaṃsa does exactly the opposite of what those named did.