Namaskar - Meaning of joining palms
- Compiled by Santosh S Katti
- Nov 17, 2015
- 1 min read
"Namaste” or “Namaskara” - In Hindu culture, is a way
of greeting people each other by joining their palms ” The reason behind this gesture of joining both the palms signifies respect & reverence. It is also a gesture that indicates Heart is the sacred place of God within the human body. Therefore, while greeting, palms are joined near the heart, bowing the head down in respect, with softly closed eyes.
However, scientifically speaking, joining both hands ensures joining the tips of all the fingers together. You may be aware that each finger tip in the human body is an energy point. In yoga, joining two palms is a mudra called “anjali mudra”. By doing this, the cranial nerve circuits in the head and the upper part of the body in the vagus nerve system are linked together. This produces a physiological response that induces a state of calmness and deeper breathing.
The secret is that your hands are essentially an energy map of consciousness.
Each finger represents an energy that it stimulates. In traditional yoga, the little finger represents tamas (inertia); the fourth or ring finger represents rajas (activity, action, passion); the middle finger represents satva (purity, peace); the index finger represents the aatma or individual soul; and the thumb represents the Paramatama or Supreme soul.
The fingers are also connected to the elements of the body, the chakras, the major organs, and even planetary energies. It is also interpreted as, the Aatma (fore-finger) has to bow down towards Paramatma (thumb) leaving behind Tamas, Manas and Raajas (remaing fingers) representing Ignorance, Mind and Passioon respectively which leads to the formation of Chin mudra, usually used during meditation.