hansa | हंस
hans (Devanagari: हंस; ISO 15919: hṁsa) is the bird swan.
This bird has the peculiar ability: if presented with milk mixed with water, it will drink the milk and leave the water alone. It is this unique characteristic of this bird that is used in the Scriptures to describe a quality of devotees (bhakt) of The Supreme Lord.
A bhakt perceives God within everyone and everything; therefore they do not get attached to any of the things instead remains steadfast in devotion to God alone. Such a devotee is called hansa. These hansa-saints live in the world of duality but chooses only the eternal. For example, Saint Ved Vyas remained in the duality of the world, penned down most of the scriptures, cited material examples in them to illustrate the concepts to material beings, but internally was not plagued by any material vices.