Namaskar literally means "to do Namah". "Namah" is the abbreviation of "Na namah" which simply means "not mine". The phrase was used originally in the ancient vedic ritual of sacrifices to gods, during oblations. The implication is What is offered is not mine but God's. Shedding the "I" and "mine", the devotee surrenders everything to God: his body, mind and spirit.
Sri Sathya Sai Baba has explained the significance of the "folded palms kept upright at the chest", which is the prescribed attitude of Namaskar. He tells us that when palms are folded, all actions and experiences, all means of knowledge and awareness are thus offered at the feet of the Master, before whom one bows.
This posture is also used as a daily greeting to offer respect from your own inner divinity to the divine in another. Incidentally, this avoids contact with the body of another, which will transfer both positive and negative energies.
"The right palm is TAT (unseen, basic, universal, absolute, the 'Paramatma')," says Bhagawan Baba. "The left palm is TWAM (the seen, the particular, the limited, the image, the Jivatma). When the two palms are brought together and kept in contact, the oneness of all that is outside/limited and all that is inside/unlimited is experienced. The namaskar is the mudra of 'Aham Brahmasmi' - I am Brahma (God).
The underlying truth of Namah is 'You greet the other with as much joy as when you greet yourself.' That is to say the maximum joy you are capable of, for no man loves another more than himself. All are loved for the sake of the Self."
(From the book "Hand Book on Union with God through Finger Postures"
by Aparna Choudhuri)
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