Namaste or Namaskar (formal) is a common greeting heard on the Indian continent by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. It is often accompanied by a respectful bow with the hands pressed together in front of the chest and pointed up. To express greater respect, hands may be held in front of the forehead. During prayer, hands are pressed together above and before the head.
The word means "I am your humble servant" or "I bow to you" in literal Sanskrit.
The hand gesture is a mudra, a symbolic gesture. The right hand represents the spiritual nature and the left the physical nature. Pressing them together combines the two.
According to author Deepak Chopra, this means "I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me"
Commonly it is held to mean "I recognize and bow to the Divine within you that is also within me."
