NAMASKAAR

When you see a person, whether it is in your workplace, on the street, at home or anywhere else, the nature of human brain is such that the moment it sees, it will make a judgment about what is good in him or what is bad in Him.

However, whatever ‘judgement one makes is solely based on one’s own past experiences, which. most of the times comes in the way of his/her ‘perception’ of the other person.

In Indian culture, we have a very fascinating gesture – ‘Namaskaar’ – that we use both at the time of meeting and parting.  

‘Namaskaar’, in a way, eliminates this ‘judgement process’ that may come in mind of either of the people meeting each other. The very gesture of bowing down to the dilutes the entire ‘judgements process’ and makes the meeting ‘equal’ for both the parties involved.

Perhaps this is the reason that in our Indian culture, whatever we see whether it’s a tree, a cow or anything we bow down to it because the hand of the creator is behind each of His creation.

The Science of Namaskar

The word ‘Namaskar’ or ‘Namaskaram’ is a beautiful science in and of itself.

Yes, you read that correctly – Science

Our Indian culture follows the yogic science, which means that everything is ‘inclusive’ and there is no need to look outside for the answer. The best example of this philosophy is the beautiful gesture of bowing down to everyone and saying “Namaskar,” which consists of Five Syllables: ‘Na’, ‘Ma’, ‘ah’, ‘sa’, ‘kar’ or ‘karam.’

‘Na’ – ‘Ma’- ‘askar’ (Sa sounds like shi or shiv when spoken) represent the five major elements, namely Agni, Vayu, Dharti, Jal, and Akaash.

According to Ayurvedic teachings, the universe is composed of five elements: ether, air, fire, water and earth. Ether is considered to be the most subtle of the five elements.

You’ve probably heard of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’, where ‘Om’ is the sound of creation.

I know, for some of you, it sounds a little confusing as to how ‘Om’ is related to ‘Namaskaar’ and it isn’t, but it is the origin.

Let me give you a simple example to help you understand this.

If I were to ask you which is easier for you, learning the alphabet Abcde first or learning the word ‘Apple’ (vocabulary)?

Of course, you’ll say Abcde because you can’t even speak English without knowing the ABCs, forget about the vocabulary, right?

That is what I mean when I say that everything has a beginning; it may not have an end, but it must have a beginning. Just as Abcs is the beginning of English language, ‘Aa’, ‘Uu’, and ‘Ma’ is the beginning for every human being!

These are the three words that you can say without using your tongue while for the rest of the words, you must use your tongue.

It means this is the beginning, as well as the sound of creation, and when spoken together, it sounds ‘Om’.

The remaining letters – ‘Na’ – ‘Ma’ – ‘Shi’ – ‘Va’ – ‘Ya’ – represent the five elements – Agni, Vayu, Dharti, Jal, and Akaash.

‘Namaskaar’ includes the first three elements that are Earth, Water and Air which constitute the major portion of our physical body. Hence, this brings a balance to our physical aspects of the body. It creates a balance between the polarities in our body and when done properly can harmonize the entire system.

On the other hand, Ether is sometimes referred to as space because it is the space that the other elements fill. Ether has the properties of lightness, airiness and spirituality. It has also been equated by some with the concept of consciousness.

Why do we join our hands in front of our chest and bow down in ‘Namaskaar’ gesture?

I am sure that by now you have understood that the word Namaskar represents the five elements, but why do we join our hands in front of our chest and bow down while doing ‘Namaskaar’?

This is because joining our left and right hand creates a balance in our body by aligning Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna, which are the three fundamental “Nadis“

Nadis are the energy pathways through which the energy moves in our system.

Unbelievable it may sound but there are 72,000 different pathways in our body that emerge out of the 72,000 Nadis of a human body – 36,000 are on the left side and 36,000 are on the right side of the body.

The 36,000 Nadis on the left side are called Ida and 36,000 on the right combined are called Pingala and 1 Nadi which is of a completely different nature is in the Centre of the spine which is called Sushumna.

Ida on the left, Pingala on the right, and Shushumna in the centre of the spinal column with both hands positioned in the centre (near the heart) forms the highest electromagnetic field of any part of the body, which is about 5000 times greater than our brain, and by placing our hands in this area, we create an opening there.

You can relate to this process simply by recalling any past incident, such as whenever you felt pain in any part of your body, the first natural thing you did was to keep your palms over that area of your heart and suddenly you felt much better. This actually happens because the hand can direct your energy within the body, which is why we keep our hand over your heart and bow down.

That’s all I have for this beautiful word Namaskaar, now before bowing down to someone you’ll know the yogic science behind it.