Paramahansa

- Paramahaṃsa ideal: the highest renouncer who discriminates the Real (brahman) from the unreal (nāma-rūpa)

- Jñāna as the direct means to mokṣa; inner realization supersedes external ritual supports

- Tyāga of identifiers: abandonment of sacred thread

tuft

staff

and fixed marks when they become ego-supports

- Equanimity (samatva) toward heat/cold

honor/dishonor

gain/loss; freedom from praise and blame

- Non-possessiveness and non-agency: relinquishing “I” and “mine

” resting in the witness Self

- Universal vision: seeing the same ātman in all beings; compassion and non-injury as natural expressions of knowledge

- Mendicant simplicity: alms

homelessness

minimal needs; wandering without attachment to place or community

- “Bāla-unmatta” trope: social nonconformity as a sign of inner freedom

not moral laxity