Namaste: How Two Sanskrit Syllables Became One of the World’s Most Recognised Indian Greetings There are few Indian words that have travelled as far as Namaste. It can be heard in an Indian home, at a temple, in a Bollywood film, at an international diplomatic event—and increasingly at yoga studios thousands of kilometres from India. Sometimes it is spoken with genuine understanding. Sometimes it is simply followed by the words, “Thank you, everyone. Namaste.” And sometimes it appears at the end of a yoga class with such predictable regularity that the ancient Indian greeting almost seems to have acquired a job description. But the real history of Namaste is considerably richer. It is not simply a Sanskrit version of “hello.” Nor is its historical meaning literally the now-popular Western yoga interpretation about “the divine light in me recognising the divine light in you.” The actual story begins with something much simpler: bowing. What does Namaste actually mean? The Sanskrit word namas carries meanings including bowing, obeisance, reverential salutation and adoration. The related verbal root nam means to bend or bow. The familiar explanation of namaste is generally analysed as: namas + te with te meaning “to you.” So the literal
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