Traditional greeting lives on in Namaskaar!

Priya S. Tandon 

Namaskaar! The traditional way of greeting in India is by joining the hands at the chest level and uttering a greeting like Namaskaar, Namaste, Namaskaram or Namaskara.

While saying Namaste, the palms are joined together and the thumbs are held close to the chest. This is also called Anjali Mudra or Pranamasana. Namaste literally means – I bow to you. The word Namaskaar can be broken up into Namah+Sakaar. This means, I offer respect to you, because you are the visible personification of Divinity! Or, I bow to the Divinity immanent in you!

‘Namaskaar’ is versatile because it can be used verbatim in the morning, afternoon, evening or night. It is acceptable in happiness as well as grief. It is used as a salutation while meeting and greeting as well as a valediction while parting or farewell.

In Telugu, they say Namaskaramulu; In Kannada, they say Namaskaragalu; In Malayalam, they say Namaskaram; In Bengali, they say Nomoshkar; In Assamese, they say Nomoskar; In Punjabi, they say Sat Sri Akal; In Tamil, they say Vanakkam; In Marwari, they say Khammaghanisa.

All of these mean, I bow to the Divine in you. The word Namaskar and the gesture of joining the hands are done simultaneously or singularly.

Sadly, the practice is fast evaporating. My generation has greeted our elders with respect, hands folded. Our children’s generation to some extent does greet their elders in a similar fashion, but I don’t see this going further beyond. 

The Hindus believe one should not unnecessarily touch strangers, for energy always flows from positive to negative. Namaskaar and joining of hands, conveys respect, without disturbing your energy field as well as that of others. 

There is another advantage of Namaskaar. When influenza or viral fevers are in the air, I notice the newspapers carrying ‘do’s and don’ts issued in public interest. One of the instructions is to avoid touching strangers. Namaskaar fits the bill here!

In the Bhagwad Puran, Shukdevji says that when Uddhav met Vidur, their ‘Namaste’ generated a lot of happiness!

Chaar mile, Chausath Khile Bees rahe karjor Harijan se Harijan mile To bihase saat karor It means that when two good people meet, their eyes see each other (chaarmile); both of them smile with their 32 teeth each (chausath khile); they join ten fingers each (bees rahe kar jor). So much happiness is generated by their meeting (Harijan se Harijan mile) that the 3.5 lakh hair follicles each in the bodies of both, stand on end due to elation (bihase sat karor). So, following suit… Namaskaar everyone!