Known words with unknown purport!

A subject least understood by many is how to do Namaskar(am) and its purport.



To Whom:
Adi Sankara says that Namaskar wherever and to whomsoever done belongs only to the Almighty who controls and runs the entire world. He has also ruled that Sanyasins should not to treat Namaskar as done to them, but should direct them to the Lord to whom it really belongs; he has asked the Sanyasin to recite the name of ‘Narayana’ when a person does the Namaskar.



Adi Sankara further says that all that is in this world is created directed and controlled by Lord Narayana and therefore, only He has the right to accept the Namaskar; Namaskar done to various deities finally reach only Lord Narayana.



Very few Sanyasins to whom these Namaskars are done have the power to bless. So, all Sanyasins bless the people in the name of Narayana; that is, while the Namaskar is being done, the Sanyasins are in turn expected to do Namaskar to Lord Narayana mentally and pray to Him to show His mercy and benevolence to those who do the Namaskar to them. They should not think they have a right and the power to do ‘Asirvad’ (Blessing).



The prayers and wishes of people who do such Namaskar to a Sanyasin gets fulfilled through the mercy and kindness of Narayana and due to their faith in HIM and not due to the ‘asirvad’ of the Sanyasin. The Sanyasin becomes Lord Narayana’s representative.



Manner and purpose:
A true Sanyasin who has realised Brahman has no need to do Namaskar or receive any, as he considers everyone as himself and that they are all part of one Brahman. But they are few in number. Others do Namaskar to the God and their own preceptors (Guru). These Sanyasins do not prostrate before God or the Guru. They show their obeisance through the ‘dhandam" they hold. This dhandam sanctified through mantras represents a Sanyasin’s mind and helps him to control it and also acts as its shield.



All people excepting Sanyasins have to do Namaskar by prostrating like a stick falling on the ground. The analogy of stick is appropriate for the mind (manas) as it becomes unbending in nature since it is under the hold of personal ego. Once the ego is thrown away, mind becomes humble and thus receives the highest well being ever.



Prostration done like a stick falling on the ground is symbolic of the status of the mind after it throws its ego. Really speaking, it is not the body that really prostrates; it is only an instrument of the mind. It is the mind, which controls the body, and when the mind prostrates like this, it recognises the fact that the Bhagwan alone directs and controls all actions and it is He who can confer all happiness and prosperity. Namaskar is really the symbolic expression of the mind controlling its thought flow and directing it towards the Almighty; it does this through its instrument viz., the body. As atonement for all the sins the mind made the body to commit, it makes the body to prostrate and earns punya for itself and the body.



Humility is expressed truly only when prostration is done before an elderly person who is just before our eyes. Whereas in the case of Gods and Goddesses and Saintly persons, we recognise that they are godly and therefore, obeisance done before them is acceptance of the known fact that we are very much inferior to them and does not express real humility but only adoration. In the case of elderly persons, we do recognise that they are ordinary mortals like us. Here, respect to the elderly takes a predominant place and not ‘bhakthi’ or adoration as in the case of the Gods etc. So, one should make full use of the ‘Namaskara baghyam’ (the boon of doing obeisance) and do Namaskar to all elderly persons. This kind of respect shown to elders brings out in all its strength and forms, the true humility and submissiveness. When this practice gets carried through ages, it promotes without our knowledge a race consciousness and a heredity practise of humility.



Except human being all others grow sideways;
it is only a human who has trunk and head, which are in vertical position. This should not result in an ego that he is superior to all living beings; such a thought would only result in degrading him below the level of animals. The reason God has given humans this higher status is to enable him to grow beyond sense pleasures in thought and life style. Understanding this, he should raise his level and not fall down through false egos. Namaskar done with respect will be of great help in preventing such a downfall. The greatest burden of human life is its ego; only when it is shed off, there will be permanent peace. It is with a view to make one shed of his ‘head-weight’, that he is asked to bow down his head and place it on the ground along with the trunk, while doing Namaskar.



Namaskar should be done as follows:
There should be one pointed attention and the eyes should not wander. All the senses should be controlled and drawn only in one direction away from the worldly things. That is the reason Namaskar is done head and body facing the earth. Showing one’s back is a deep sense of shame for all other purposes except for doing Namaskar. This kind of Namaskar is called ‘Shaashtaanga Namaskar’, when all the eight parts of the body touch the ground.