नमस्तेnamas te · salutation to you
Namaste, what it really means
3 min read · Updated October 17, 2026 · sources checked October 17, 2026
In short
Namaste means 'salutation to you' or 'I bow to you'. It joins two Sanskrit words: namas, a bow, reverential salutation, and te, 'to you'. It is usually said with the palms joined before the chest, the gesture called añjali. In India it is a respectful greeting; the phrase already appears in the Ṛgveda and the Bhagavad Gita.
Two words: namas and te
नमस्ते (namaste) is not one dictionary word but two, joined by the rules of Sanskrit sound (sandhi):
| Part | Devanāgarī | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| namas | नमस् | "bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, adoration (by gesture or word)", Monier-Williams |
| te | ते | "to you": the short, unstressed form of the pronoun "you" (dative and genitive), listed by Monier-Williams under tva |
Namas followed by te gives namas te, written as one word in Devanāgarī. Together: "salutation to you", "I bow to you". There is no verb in it, and none is needed: Sanskrit says "homage to you" the way English says "thanks to you". The same namas is in the mantra oṃ namaḥ śivāya, "homage to Śiva", where it ends in the breath of the visarga (ḥ) because no t follows.
Some explanations cut the word into nama + as + te and read "as" as "I". That is not how Sanskrit works: namas is a single word, and there is no "I" in namaste.
The gesture: añjali
The word is usually said with a gesture: the palms joined before the chest, fingers pointing up, with a slight bow of the head. In Sanskrit this is añjali, defined by Monier-Williams as "the open hands placed side by side and slightly hollowed (as if by a beggar to receive food; hence when raised to the forehead, a mark of supplication), reverence, salutation". The gesture is an offering before it is a greeting. Our page on añjali mudrā explains how to make it, and its three heights: at the heart, at the forehead, above the head.
The oldest namas te: the Veda and the Gita
The phrase is very old. In the Ṛgveda, a hymn to Agni, the god of fire, says:
नमस्ते अग्न ओजसे गृणन्ति देव कृष्टयः । अमैरमित्रमर्दय ॥
namas te agna ojase gṛṇanti deva kṛṣṭayaḥ | amair amitram ardaya ||
Homage to your might, Agni! The peoples sing your praise, O god. With your onslaughts, crush the enemy.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna has just seen the universal form of Kṛṣṇa. Trembling, he joins his hands (kṛtāñjali, 11.35) and repeats the salutation again and again:
वायुर्यमोऽग्निर्वरुणः शशाङ्कः प्रजापतिस्त्वं प्रपितामहश्च । नमो नमस्तेऽस्तु सहस्रकृत्वः पुनश्च भूयोऽपि नमो नमस्ते ॥
vāyur yamo 'gnir varuṇaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ prajāpatis tvaṃ prapitāmahaś ca | namo namas te 'stu sahasra-kṛtvaḥ punaś ca bhūyo 'pi namo namas te ||
You are the wind, Yama, fire, Varuṇa, the moon, Prajāpati and the great-grandfather. Salutation, salutation to you, a thousand times, and again and yet again, salutation, salutation to you!
The next verse goes on: namaḥ purastād atha pṛṣṭhatas te, "salutation to you in front and behind", and on every side (11.40). In both texts namas te is addressed to a god. The same words, said to a person, carry the same respect. More on the Gītā on our Bhagavad Gita page.
What namaste does not mean
"The light in me honours the light in you" and "the divine in me bows to the divine in you" are lovely sentences, often printed on yoga mats and posters. They are not translations: the Sanskrit has no word for light, divine, or "in me". As Yoga Journal explains, the "divine in you" reading comes from the Hindu belief that divinity resides within everyone, so that anyone you meet deserves respect. You may hold that intention when you bow; just know that the word itself says something simpler and older: "I bow to you".
How namaste is used in India today
- As a greeting. Namaste, or the more formal namaskār (Hindi, from Sanskrit namaskāra, "homage"), is said when meeting someone, with or without the joined hands. The gesture alone, with a smile, is widely understood.
- With respect. "It's rather formal", the teacher Susanna Barkataki told Yoga Journal, which adds that in South Asian culture it is most often "reserved for elders, teachers, or other honorables"; she says it when greeting an elder, not when leaving. Usage varies from family to family and region to region, and each Indian language has its own words of greeting.
- Before the sacred. The same gesture is made before a deity in a temple, or before a teacher.
- Deeper respect. For an elder or a teacher, people may bow lower: the word for this is praṇām (Sanskrit praṇāma, "bowing, prostration").
Namaste in a yoga class
Saying namaste together at the end of a class is a modern habit of yoga studios; no classical yoga text, from the Yoga Sutras to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, prescribes it. It is not wrong: a moment of joined hands and gratitude is a good way to close practice. Say it simply, as a greeting rather than a slogan, and avoid puns such as "Nama'stay in bed", which Yoga Journal calls "an offensive misuse" of a respectful word.
How to pronounce it
Three syllables, na-mas-te, with short a's like the u in "but", a dental t (tongue against the teeth) and a long, pure e like the vowel of "they" without the glide: roughly nuh-MUS-tay, with a light stress. Our pronunciation guide explains each sound.
Related words
| Word | Devanāgarī | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| namaḥ | नमः | "homage", the form namas takes at the end of a phrase and before some sounds (sandhi), as in oṃ namaḥ śivāya |
| namaskāra | नमस्कार | "the exclamation 'namas', adoration, homage" (Monier-Williams); Hindi namaskār |
| praṇāma | प्रणाम | "bending, bowing, a bow, respectful salutation, prostration" (Monier-Williams) |
| añjali | अञ्जलि | the joined, slightly hollowed hands of offering |
| sūrya-namaskāra | सूर्यनमस्कार | salutation to the sun, the sequence of postures |
The Sanskrit glossary gives 247 other words of yoga, each checked in the dictionary.
Questions people ask
What does namaste actually mean?
Literally 'salutation to you'. Namas means a bow, obeisance, reverential salutation (Monier-Williams), and te is the short form of 'to you'. The joined hands that go with it express the same thing without words.
Does namaste mean 'the light in me honours the light in you'?
Not literally. The Sanskrit contains no word for light, divine or 'in me'. That phrase is a modern interpretation, inspired by the Hindu idea that the divine dwells in every being; it can be a beautiful intention, but it is not a translation.
Is namaste a yoga term?
No. It is an Indian greeting, used far beyond yoga, and no classical yoga text prescribes it. Saying namaste together at the end of a class is a modern custom of yoga studios.
When should you say namaste?
As a respectful greeting, especially to an elder, a teacher or someone you meet for the first time, with joined hands and a slight bow. In a temple, the same gesture is made before the deity. If you are unsure, the gesture alone, with a smile, is always welcome.
What does the namaste gesture mean?
The joined palms are añjali, 'the open hands placed side by side and slightly hollowed' (Monier-Williams), a gesture of offering and reverence. Raised to the forehead, it marks greater respect.
Where does the word namaste come from?
From Sanskrit. The phrase namas te, 'homage to you', is already addressed to the fire god Agni in the Ṛgveda (8.75.10), and Arjuna repeats namo namas te to Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad Gita (11.39).
Sources
- Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), entries namas, namaskāra, añjali and tva (enclitic te), Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries checked October 17, 2026
- Ṛgveda, ed. Aufrecht, Sanskrit text (GRETIL), hymn 8.75 checked October 17, 2026
- Bhagavadgītā, critical edition (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute), Sanskrit text (GRETIL), chapter 11 checked October 17, 2026
- Rita Geno, The Meaning of Namaste, Yoga Journal checked October 17, 2026
- Arthur A. Macdonell, A Sanskrit Grammar for Students (Oxford, 1927), Internet Archive checked October 17, 2026