Prabhupada's lecture - Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.20 - Māyāpura, September 30, 1974
Tathā paramahaṁsānām [SB 1.8.20]. Kṛṣṇa is realized by qualification, and the qualifications are described here. The first qualification is paramahaṁsa. Paramahaṁsa. Parama means the best, and haṁsa means the swans. So there are different types of swans. We have seen. Out of them, the white big swan is accepted the best of them. So this haṁsa, or this swan, has got a qualification special, that you offer them milk mixed with water. So the haṁsa, it will take the milk portion and leave aside the water portion. Every animal has got a special qualification. Just like you'll find the lizard, a very plain wall, polished wall, but they'll go very swiftly. You have no science to do that. You cannot do it. The vulture, it goes very high. They have got very small eyes, but they can see from miles away where is some dead body. That is their business.
So everyone has got some special qualification. That is God's gift. The... Similarly, this is also an animal. It has got the special qualification: they can discriminate what is water and what is milk. So this world is mixed up, spiritual and material things. Just like your body, my body, this is also mixture. Anything is a mixture of spirit and matter. So one who can discern the spirit from the matter, he is called paramahaṁsa. So intelligent man... Paramahaṁsa, what is the paramahaṁsa? Now, munīnām. Paramahaṁsa... Muni means very thoughtful. So if you are thoughtful, then you'll be able to discern between matter and spirit. The body is moving, but those who are not muni, thoughtful, they think the body is moving automatically. But actually, that is not the fact. Because the spirit is there, therefore it is moving. So muni, those who are thoughtful, they can understand. Foolish men, they cannot understand. They cannot understand that beyond this body there is another force, which is helping the movement of the body. They cannot understand the Bhagavad-gītā statement: tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ [Bg. 2.13].
That moving force is perpetual, eternal. Na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre [Bg. 2.20]. It is not lost after the destruction of the body, but it is transferred to another body. They cannot understand, because they are not muni. The muni means very thoughtful. And how one can become perfect muni? That is also said here. Amalātmanām. Amala. Mala means dirty things, and amala, amala means just the opposite. No. Amala, "a" means "no." His heart is cleansed of all dirty things. Such men. Amalātmanām. So these are the qualifications. Paramahaṁsa, one must be only spiritually interested like the swan. He is interested only to drink the milk, not the water. Similarly, one must become paramahaṁsa. One must be interested with spiritual advancement of life, not material. Reject. Reject it.