Namaste

The Deeper Meaning of Namaste

Namas (namaḥ) literally means to bow, which shows one’s humility or reverence before something greater than us out of respect and adoration. On the most mundane level it is a simple salutation in Asian culture to be polite. Another common Sanskrit greeting is 'Pranam' which has the same root of namas within it and figuratively means to 'I humble myself before you'.

When used within a mantra, namas means to praise or adore the deity: Aum namah shivaya or aum vishnave namah. Scholars can see the development of this term in a group of texts known as Pañcharātra Āgamas where namas is a state of conscious, a way of being in the world. The Ahirbudhnya Saṁhitā says that in the term namaḥ, the ‘na’ represents the path, ‘ma’ represents the individual self on the path, and the ‘aḥ’ represents divinity to which we humble ourselves.

The Vaiṣṇava tradition teaches that to give a complete namas is to bow and surrender to the divine. True bowing is to lower your ego before that which is the highest aspect of creation, which is everywhere in everything. To approach life from a humble and respectful state of mind is to create the proper inner environment for spiritual life.

The Ahirbudhnya Saṁhitā (52.7-38) discusses the teachings of namana. It states that the six letters of N A M A N A are the six forms of surrender (śaraṇāgati):
            Ātma-nikṣepa: surrender of the self to something greater
            Goptṛ: taking a greater power as the protector
            Kārpaṇya: absolute humility

            Ānukūlya: kindness to all
            Mahāviśvāsa: great faith or trust
            Prātikūlya: avoidance antagonism

Said alone, Namaste could just be a respectful salutation. But when consciously used, Namaste can be a reminder to bow to the divine which is in everything, which is in me and which is in you. The often translation of namaste as 'I bow to the divine in you which is in me' is very figurative, and not a direct translation- it is more the intention of the greeting.

Paramhamsa Ramakrisna taught that if you want to find a pearl you look inside a clam, and if you want to find God, then look inside of man. To pay respects or bow to you, is an acknowledgment that I see God inside of you. Mahapurusha Achyutananda Das teaches that when we fold our hands and say Namaste, we must consciously remember to see that God inside of us that is the same as the God inside of everyone else.

For those who use namaste, and want to do it properly: There is a teaching in the Bhagavad Gītā (XVIII.61-62): "That which moves all things" (Ishvara) abides in the heart of all beings. And when, with our whole being, we seek refuge/'to be at home' in that we find supreme peace (param shanti)." This is namas. And namaskara means I am doing namas. Namaste means "to you I namas"... which is 'I see that supreme mover in you'. The wiggled translation of the divine in me sees the divine in you is a beautiful wording of this mode of consciousness that is taught in the Bhagavata yoga tradition.

Does Namaste mean “hello” ? Not really. If you look at the etymology of ‘hello’, it absolutely is not a proper translation. Namaste ‘can’ be translated as ‘hello’, similar to the Hawaiian ‘Aloha’ or the Hebrew ‘Shalom.’ But this is for English convenience not the meaning of these words. There is an issue when people translate Sanskrit (or these other older languages) into their language and still think in their language. The Sanskrit Namaste or (my preferred) Namaskar are things said when you meet, connect, or leave people. They ‘can’ be used like the English hello or goodbye, but neither is a proper translation of the meaning of the word. You have to understand the word itself. Then you can use it as a way to acknowledge the connection with another.

How does the Monier Williams Sanskrit Dictionary define namaste?
The word is composed of two parts: ‘namas’ with the ‘te’ ending which means “to you”
     Namas: as a noun= bow, obeisance, adoration, or a reverential salutation
        And looking at some variations from the dictionary will show how the word is used
     Namas-kṛ- to utter a salutation, do homage
     Namas-kṛta- worshipped or adored
        In the dative case, like rāmāya namaḥ- it is glory/adoration to Rāma
     Namas-kartṛ- worshipping, or a worshipper
     Namas-kāra- the exclamation "namas,” adoration, homage
     Namas-kārya- to be worshipped or adored, venerable
     Namas-vat- inspiring veneration
     Namas-ya- to pay homage, or worship, or to be humble or deferential [respectful]

How is the word used in devotional prayers:

In the Durgā Saptaśatī, there are a number of verses that end with namas to the Goddess:

sarva-maṅgala-māṅgalye śive sarvārtha-sādhike |

śaraṇye tryambake gauri nārāyaṇi namo'stu te || 3 ||

śaraṇāgatadīnārtaparitrāṇaparāyaṇe |

sarvasyārihare devi nārāyaṇi namo’stu te || 4 ||

sarvasvarūpe sarveśe sarvaśakti samavite |

bhayebhyastrāhi no devī durge devī namo’stu te || 5 ||

In the Gaṇeśa Pañcharatnam, it says I give namaskar (namaskaromi) to the shining one (bhāsvara), Ganeśa gives wisdom (manaskara) to those who give him namaskar (namaskṛtā):

samasta loka saṁkaraṁ nirasta daitya kuñjaraṁ
daretarodaraṁ varaṁ vare bhavaktra makṣaram
krupākaraṁ kṣamākaraṁ mudākaraṁ yasaskaraṁ
manaskaraṁ namaskṛtāṁ namaskaromi bhāsvaram || 3 ||    

Svami Vivekananda said: ‘The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.’

2017/18 Additions:

There has been a video by a non-Sanskritist, non-lineage holder, Indian man stating that Namaste just means hello, and cynically making fun of westerners saying it in their Yoga classes. I have added a little more related to that.

Time of India article on why to say namaste at the end of class (24 Nov 2017).

Aadhil Palkhivala explaining namaste in Yoga Journal (21 April 2017).

Exegetical Terms

Since Sanskrit words are thousands of years old, they will often have exegetical meanings. For example, in Kaśmiri Śaivism, the term vimarśa means to be aware of awareness and can even be used as a synonym for the consciousness itself, yet its direct meaning is only ‘to examine,’ from marśa which means ‘to touch.’ After hundreds of years within that tradition, it has taken on a deeper meaning about being in touch with the deeper consciousness, so that it has a much deeper exegetical translation. Namas, namana, namaḥ, namaste, and namaskar similarly have a deeper meaning. In India, “Namaste” itself is painting on the front of transport trucks and other general places. This use is superficial to the deeper meaning, but is being done based on the traditional understanding.

General References
For those needing a reference, the deeper meaning of Namaste is discussed in
K. V. Singh's Hindu Rites and Rituals: Origins and Meanings. Penguin Books. pp. 123–124.

The importance of this meaning to South-Asian Americans is seen in this article
Ying, Coombs, Lee's Family Intergenerational Relationship of Asian American Adolescents, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, p.357.

Academic References

In reply to ‘namaste’ being used as a new age practice, Jason Schwartz states “Actually these types of glosses of namaste appear to be precolonial. I have seen namaste glossed in Sanskrit and Marāṭhī sources as far back as the 17th and 18th with theme and variation of I bow (praṇāmi) to one's own/my own [inner] self (svātmanaṃ). The best example is a long discussion in an unpublished Śrīvidyā treatise by Śivānandabhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, the rājaguru of the king of Jaipur. He goes on for a whole paragraph about different layers of meaning in the verbal root and its inflections.”

Similar Concepts in Śaivism

In a related discussion, Christopher Wallace stated “… Śaiva theologian Kshemarāja glosses 'namas' with 'samāveśa', saying that because only God can worship God, you must first immerse yourself in That, and only then can you actually perform a true namas.”

Facebook group discussion based on a modern Indian person laughing at Namaste in a class:

Rachael Fallon When I lived all through Kerala and Karnataka for 6 year's that's how everyone closed the practice. It's a beautiful gesture so why would anyone be put off by that? They also say Namaskar in both North and South India and Nepal as a greeting not Namaste.

Hari Aum Tat Sat....Shanti Shanti Shanti..... .Aum....Namaste,  these are all universal practices through the most northern and southern parts of India!!

Shrikanth Gopalan simply put - Namaste is 'I bow to you'. The bowing can be welcome and also used as gratitude or respect.

btw: Namaste as a common used word is used in Northern India; not in Southern India.

Nivedita Pingle And basically I don't think we Indians really have the right to laugh at others when we are not using our own greeting words or casual conversation words in our own languages. There is rampant use of words and phrases like hi, hello, thank you, sorry, excuse me, come on, ok, etc.

This is all across India-north, south, west , east, rural, urban.

You are doing better than most of us, you are at least using the term and not incorrectly in your yoga practice.

Freedom Cole Namaste and namaskaram can both be a greeting and a goodbye. Pranam is generally just a hello. They may be laughing more from their own ignorance and prejudice than wisdom.

In the multi millennial aged language of Sanskrit, words have meanings based upon (1) their roots, (2) inferred meanings, and (3) scripturally developed meanings. [Anyone who wants to disagree with that- ask them why doesn’t vimarsha mean ‘to touch’ or ‘to examine’- and make sure you know the scriptural use of the word vimarsha ;)].

Sumati Shah Ok, everyone here who isn’t Indian and who has never explored any Indian cultures outside the realm of yoga need to remember there are many Indian Cultures & Languages.

South Indians...just as likely to be Christians as Hindus.

Sikh, Muslim, Christians...all eat meat, and will all say namaste to greet one another.

It means hello, it means thank you, it’s used so many ways!

Nivedita Pingle, spot on. But the ground reality today is that hardly anybody says namaste in India. At the most in yoga classes, yes. But in routine Indian life most people resort to hi and hello. In the hinterland every state and community has their own ways of greeting like ramram in maharashtra, jai ramji ki in lot of north Indian regions, salaam alekum among the muslims and so on.

I just feel that it is not something to laugh at if someone uses it wrongly according to them

Gita Sehgal Hello I am also a Kundalini teacher from India I say Satnam as greeting and Namaste is also a greeting apt to use for a start (Anything in any form of greeting is same) Satnam!!!

Tori Hall Namaste as an acknowledgment of divinity within each other made a lot more sense when I learned the English "Good-bye" use to be "God be with ye" and then there is the Spanish "Adios" ("to God"). So in a lot of languages good byes can also be blessings.

Kathleen Shortt Bradford Funny thing is when I first started yoga I thought they were saying "Have a nice day" :)          Lyndel Quick Me too! And because I was taking evening classes I was thoroughly confused.