Also called: hans · swan · goose · hamsa

Where on the hand: Palm surface.

What it looks like: A boat-shaped body with a long S-curved neck rising from one end into a small head with a short beak; the S-neck is the identifier.

Discrimination (viveka — the haṃsa separates milk from water), purity, scholarship, Sarasvatī's favour; grace and refinement. Traditionally the vehicle of Brahmā and Sarasvatī, so read as marking the learned and the discriminating.

Read with care: A minor and weakly-attested mark in working palmistry, appearing chiefly through the general 'bird' (पक्षी pakṣī) category.