How should a Husband and Wife do Namaskar together?

1. Spiritual significance of Marriage

Marriage means uniting two principles; i.e. the principles of Deity Shiva in the form of the husband and the principle of Goddess Pārvati as His wife. Deity Shiva represents the Will for an action and Goddess Pārvati represents Divine Energy. For the successful completion of any action both aspects are required, i.e. the Will for the action and the energy to actually perform it. The Will in the form of Deity Shiva is unmanifest, but it comes alive when it is charged with Divine Energy, which manifests bringing the action to completion.

2. Why do namaskār together to elders after marriage?

After marriage both the embodied souls enter the householder's stage. It is very important to obtain the blessings of the elders jointly to perform various activities in life in this stage when the couple is complementary to each other. Thus doing namaskār together, leads to the activation of frequencies of Deity Shiva and Divine Energy from the Universe, which also helps in developing humility in the embodied souls. It also results in the fulfilment of every deed in the householder's stage and yields the desired fruit, leading to a minimal give and take account being generated. That is why after marriage, a couple is required to perform every action together, complying with each other even in a deed like paying Obeisance (namaskār). If a husband and wife have more than 50 percent spiritual level or spiritual emotion towards God then, their doing namaskār together or individually or even mentally will bear the same fruit. That is why instead of the actual deed, the spiritual emotion towards God while performing a deed has extraordinary importance. (Namaskār can be paid individually, if the partner is not available. - Editor)

3. On which side of her husband should the wife be while doing namaskār?

While performing any act the wife should stand to the right of her husband. The husband represents the 'Moon' channel. The wife is considered to be the other half of her husband and represents the 'Sun' channel. The Sun channel is symbolic of the manifest functional Divine Energy of Ādi-shakti, which is the provider of energy to any action. The Moon channel, indicative of the God principle, is symbolic of Deity Shiva who actually functions on the strength of the energy provided by Ādi-shakti. As the Divine Energy of Deity Shiva, the wife should stand to the right of her husband and support him in every action. In every ritual the wife without performing any actual act, provides him with the 'Energy for Action' of Goddess Durgā which is required for a ritual, by placing four fingers of her right hand on his right arm. This is why the act performed by the host and his wife by virtue of being complemented by Deity Shiva and Divine Energy bears fruit in a short period.

4. Why should a married woman bow thrice to the elders?

A married woman symbolises the hidden energy of the unmanifest Ādi-māyā in its unmanifest stage. She is the one who is a manifest form of Ādi-shakti, one who achieves non-duality from the duality prevailing in the Māyā (Great Illusion). When we perform any action thrice or pronounce anything thrice, God's resolve becomes operational at the three levels of Will, Action and Knowledge. This results in the completion of a task. A married woman has the seed of Ādi-māyā and Ādi-shakti in a dormant stage. When she bows thrice, the Raja component gets activated and along with the manifestation of the spiritual emotion of humility within her, the divinity in the elderly person is also activated. This divinity provides her with manifest energy to perform a task. This energy in turn activates her 'soul' energy and provides momentum to her wilful actions and with the strength of Ādi-māyā, she takes her family to a higher level. Since her husband receives the benefit of the Raja component of Chaitanya emitting from her, he too can actually work in the form of Deity Shiva in the midst of Māyā.

(Ref: Sanatan's Publication - 'The Correct Methods of doing namaskār')

• Why 'Namaskar' and not a 'hand shake'?

• Why should one always do Namaskar to elders?

• What is correct method & science of doing Namaskar to God?