The Goddess of speech namely Saraswati has been named ‘Hamsavahini’ or has hamsa, the swan for her carrier. In calling this Goddess Saraswati by the name of ‘Hamsavahini’ we should understand the inner meaning, Saraswati who has swan as her carrier converts our thoughts into words and in this process, she is using the breath that we take in and the breath that we give out as the carrier of our thoughts and words. If there is no taking in and giving out of breath, it will be difficult even for the words to come out from within. This means, that the breath that we take in and the breath we give out appear as the word ‘Soham’. ‘Soham’ signifies the thought that is riding on the swan. Because this is also an aspect where the Gayatri has been joined to the poetic meter or chandus, sometimes this has been called ‘Hamsa Gayatri. Chandas should not therefore be used only in the context of the ordinary meter. (SSB I974, p. 172-173)