Namaste: What It Literally Means, and How It Became a Class Ending
नमस्तेnamas-te
Written and reviewed by The Kriya Yogi · Updated 27 September 2026
Namaste is an ordinary Indian greeting meaning 'I bow to you', spoken with the palms together — and, in modern studios, the way a class is closed.
In short
- Namah means 'bow' or 'reverence'; te means 'to you'. The literal sense is simply 'I bow to you'.
- It is an everyday greeting across India, used by people with no connection to yoga at all.
- Namaskar and namaskaram come from the same root; pranam is more deferential still.
- The accompanying palms-together gesture is anjali mudra.
- Ending a class with namaste is a modern, largely Western convention, not something found in the classical texts.
Derivation
Namas means a bow, obeisance or act of reverence; te is the dative "to you". Sandhi joins them as namaste. The word appears throughout Sanskrit literature in exactly this sense, long before it had anything to do with a yoga class.
Everyday use
In India it is an ordinary greeting — in shops, on the phone, at the door — used on meeting and on parting, by people of every faith and none. The palms-together gesture that accompanies it is anjali mudra.
Namaste, namaskar, pranam
Namaskar (or namaskaram in the south) shares the root and is slightly more formal. Pranam is more deferential again, often offered to elders and teachers, sometimes with a bow or a touch to the feet. All three are respectful; none outranks the others in holiness.
How it became a class ending
Closing a yoga class with "namaste" is largely a modern convention, common in the West and in studios internationally. It does not appear as a closing benediction in the Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika or the Gheranda Samhita, and many Indian teachers find the usage unfamiliar. That does not make it wrong — it is now a real part of how modern practice is done — but claiming ancient authority for it overstates the case.
The "divine in me bows to the divine in you" gloss
This studio translation draws on a genuine idea from Vedanta, that the same awareness is present in everyone. It is an interpretation layered on top of the words rather than what they say. The literal sense stays simple: I bow to you.
Common misunderstandings
Namaste is not a religious formula, not a blessing, and not specific to yoga. It is also not, in ordinary Indian usage, something said only at the end of an encounter — it works equally as hello.
Where this is practised here
Questions people ask
+ What does namaste literally mean?
+ Should I say namaste at the end of class?
+ Is namaste religious?
References
- Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, entries for namas and namaskāra.
- Elizabeth De Michelis, "A History of Modern Yoga" (Continuum, 2004).
Educational content, not medical advice. Check with a doctor before starting new practices if you have a health condition or are pregnant.