THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE HINDU GREETING NAMASTE

"The spirit within me salutes the spirit within you"

 The age old Indian tradition of contactless greeting is another example of the splendid Indian culture. Namaste is not only a form of greeting but also holds a very deep significance. The word namaste, in Sanskrit, can be broken into two words "Namah" meaning "to bow" or "to sink" and "te" meaning "you". Thus Namaste truly means, "I bow to you in my adoration or reverence". This is the contemporary meaning of Namaste.

"The God in me greets the God in you, The spirit in me meets the same spirit in you."

According to the Vedas, the ancient Hindu textbooks of India, Namaste or Namaskaar is a gesture in which we bow in front of the divine lord. Digging deeper, in Sanskrit, "Nama" can also be broken into "na" and "ma" which means "not mine". So the meaning becomes "Not me you". The spiritual significance says that, it negates or reduces an individual's ego in presence of another individual. It is believed that the divine lord resides in every individual, and by the gesture of Namaste we admire and bow to the divine lord inside the other individual. In Sanskrit, this gesture is referred to as "Hridyanjali", approbation from heart or "Atmanjali", approbation from the soul. Well, the story does not end here.

"The divine in me bows to the divine in you

  The sacred in me recognizes the sacred in you"

Namaste is also believed to hold the power to exchange energy or positive vibes from the soul of the individuals. In contactless greeting of Namaste, we exchange our positive energy with each other, unlike the contact greeting of hug or handshake where there might be an exchange of negative vibes. 

The posture for performing this act is joining your palms in front of your chest where your thumb points to the heart or Hridaya Chakra and the other four fingers are vertical. You bend a little with your head bowing forward and utter the word Namaste or Namaskar. 

Hinduism considers the human body is made up of five elements, namely:

• Agni- Fire
• Prithvi/bhumi- Earth
• Bayu/Pavan- Air
• Jal- Water
• Sunya- Vacuum/ Space
  

There is a constant flow of energy in the soul. The vacuum is considered to stay unharmed even when the whole universe is destroyed. One of the theories says that with the Namskaar mudra we connect to the vacuum element which helps to absorb a level of divine consciousness into our body. By uttering the word, we connect to the earth element. When these two elements connect other elements also start connecting to the individual's soul which leads to the inflow of cosmic energy in the soul. Now, this energy is interchanged between the individuals performing the posture. 

In ancient times, the Gurukuls had the rules of starting and ending the class with the Namsakaar so that positive energy will be interchanged between the Guru and Shisya. In the Hindu culture, Namaskaar is not only used to greet people but also performed in the temples in front of the idols which illustrates the respect and complete surrender of the individuals to the divine Lord. The Namskaar mudra is also involved in all Indian classical dance forms like Odishi, Bharatnatyam, etc. 

Another theory explains the posture to be the pathway to connect with the divine soul. According to the theory, each palm consisting of five fingers when pressed together to join the hands makes up a combination of 10 fingers. The number 10 has special spiritual significance in the Vedas, which is described as the direct path to connect to the divine lord. Even the 5 fingers hold their own Chakras and when joined have the ability to calm our soul and fill us with energy and positive vibes.

It is a well known mudra or posture in yoga and has a specific science of absorbing energy because of which it is practiced in the beginning and end of the session with chanting of mantras. Each of the five fingers has their own Chakra as described in the picture below: 

These chakras when combined together, in the posture, generates enormous energy in the body and fills the soul with a lot of comfort and calmness. Therefore most of the yoga Asanas contain this posture. It helps the mind to calm down and get energy.

In India, as you travel from one state to another the word may change according to the native languages but the significance remains the same. Thus the Indian greeting Namaste holds a lot of spiritual, scientific, and religious significance. Now, when you have to maintain social distancing and the World is shifting to contactless communication, it is important for us to know the value of performing this gesture of contactless greeting. In fact, many countries like Israel have adopted this form of greeting due to the fear of contamination with the virus via handshakes. Corporate life has no doubt changed our culture to greet one another with handshakes and hello instead of Namaste, but now its time to understand the value of Indian culture and follow it to maintain a healthy lifestyle.