Namaste
Encyclopedia
Namaste also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
: ; formal: Namaskar/Namaskaram) is a common spoken valediction or salutation
Salutation (greeting)
A salutation is a greeting used in a letter or other written communication, such as an email. Salutations can be formal or informal. The most common form of salutation in a letter is Dear followed by the recipient's given name or title...
originating from the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
. It is a customary greeting when individuals meet, and a valediction upon their parting. A non-contact form of salutation is traditionally preferred in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Namaste is the most common form of such a salutation. In Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, younger persons usually initiate the exchange with their elders. Initiating the exchange is seen as a sign of respect in other hierarchical settings.
When spoken to another person, it is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, in front of the chest. This gesture, called Abhinandan, Añjali Mudrā
Añjali Mudrā
Añjali Mudrā or Pranamasana is a hand gesture which is practiced throughout Asia. It is used as a sign of respect and a greeting in India and amongst yoga practitioners and adherents of similar traditions...
or Pranamasana
Pranāma
Pranāma or ', the touching of the feet in Indian culture, is a show of respect and it is often an integral part of darshan. When greeting, children touch the feet of their family elders while people of all ages will bend to touch the feet of a great guru, murti or icon of a Deva .It is customary...
, can also be performed wordlessly and carries the same meaning.
Etymology
Namaste is derived from SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and term "Namas" ( Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
: नमस ) which has many different meanings such as : "bow
Bow
Bow may refer to:* Bow , an archery weapon that uses elasticity to propel arrows* Bowing , to lower the head or the upper body* Bow , the foremost point of the hull of a ship or boat...
, prostration
Prostration
Prostration is the placement of the body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. Major world religions employ prostration either as a means of embodying reverence for a noble person, persons or doctrine, or as an act of submissiveness to a supreme being or beings...
, obedience
Obedience
The term obedience can refer to:* Obedience ** The educational film Obedience about the Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures* Vow of obedience as an evangelical counsel* Obedience training for dogs...
, reverential salutation
Salutation
A salutation is a greeting used in a letter or other written communication, such as an email. Salutations can be formal or informal. The most common form of salutation in a letter is Dear followed by the recipient's given name or title...
, adoration
Adoration
Adoration is love given with deep affection. The term comes from the Latin adōrātiō, meaning "to give homage or worship to someone or something."-Ancient Middle East:...
"; te is the second person
Second person
Second person can refer to the following:* A grammatical person, you, your and yours in the English language* Second-person narrative, a perspective in storytelling* Second Person , a trip-hop band from London...
singular pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
in the dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
.
Uses
Namaste is a friendly greeting in written communication, or generally between people when they meet. When used at funerals to greet the guests, the verbal part is usually omitted. When the hand position is higher, it usually means reverence and/or worship. The expression with hands placed on top of one's head is usually the sign of utmost reverence or respect. When the gesture is performed with hands in front of the chest, it is usually considered as aayushman.The aayubowan (meaning: wish you a long life) gesture is also a cultural symbol of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
and Sri Lankan hospitality.
In Nepalese culture, namaste is performed when a younger family member meets older relatives. It also varies depending upon social status and prestige. The person with lower status or prestige performs namaste first to show respect for the higher station the other person has achieved.
In Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
scripture Namaste, Namastung or Namastvung is referenced as salutation to the Primal being, the One God. The salutation is followed by an attribute respecting a quality of the creator of all religions, Akal
Akal
Akal literally timeless, immortal, non-temporal, is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh, who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustat; i.e., In Praise of the Timeless One . However, the concept of Akal...
.
In Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, Pakistan, the añjali mudra, though extremely rare, is still maintained even by Sindhi Muslims.
The gesture is widely used throughout Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and beyond. It first (?) appears c.4000 years ago on the clay seals of the Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India...
.Poor source
Meanings and interpretation
As it is most commonly used, namaste is roughly equivalent to "greetings" or "good day," in English, implicitly with the connotation "to be well". As against shaking hands, kissing or embracing each other in other cultures, Namaste is a non-contact form of respectful greeting and can be used universally while meeting a person of different gender, age or social status.The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. "Nama" means bow, "as" means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste literally means "bow me you" or "I bow to you."
The Meaning of "Namaste", Aadil Palkhivala, Yoga Journal
Namaskār (Devnagari/Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
: ) literally means "I bow to [your] form".
"The spirit in me respects the spirit in you," "the divinity in me bows to the divinity in you," and others, are modern interpretations, extrapolated from the Sanskrit root of namaste. It is worth noting, however, that there is no implicit mention of divinity, spirit, light, or other such concepts in the greeting. They are usually associated with western yoga and New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
movements.
See also
- PranāmaPranāmaPranāma or ', the touching of the feet in Indian culture, is a show of respect and it is often an integral part of darshan. When greeting, children touch the feet of their family elders while people of all ages will bend to touch the feet of a great guru, murti or icon of a Deva .It is customary...
- NamanNamanIn Hinduism and Hindu mythology, naman, that is, a person’s name, is believed to encompass within itself the fundamental nature of a person. It is also believed that the name of a person also affects the character of the bearer of that name...
- Gassho
- SampeahSampeahThe Sampeah is a Cambodian greeting or a way of showing respect. It is very similar to the Thai wai and the Indian Añjali Mudrā/namasté. While performing the sampeah, the person places his palms together in a prayer-like fashion while bowing slightly...
- WaiThai greetingThe Thai greeting referred to as the wai consists of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. It has its origin in the Indic Añjali Mudrā, like the Indian namasté and the Cambodian sampeah...