Namaste Vs. Jay-Mashi: An Invention of Indigenous Christian greeting in Nepal
By: Pabitra M. Bhandari
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Anyone who enters Nepal will be greeted with Namaste, a common greeting in Nepal, but if you enter a Nepalese church or any Christian gatherings you will be bombarded with the word ‘Jay-Mashi.’ Yes, in form and action, it is similar to namaste, they join their two hands in front of them and bow their heads a little for you, but in words, they will be saying Jay-Mashi instead of Namaste. What’s the need or logic behind such a tradition? Being a Nepali Christian, I give my reflection on this new indigenous Christian greeting of Nepal.
Nepal is a land of greetings. Greetings are people’s identity. People greet or receive greetings according to their status and recognition in the society. For example, when you meet the elders of the society on the street, you greet them politely. Such teachers, political leaders, and pandits (Hindu priests) get respectable greetings. These people do not like to be not greeted, and it is considered rude not to greet these people. Among friends, your greetings can be casual. In Nepal, usually, political parties create their own greetings to greet their party members and also distinguish themselves from other party members. The greeting of the Nepali Congress party is Jay-Nepal meaning Victory of Nepal, while people belonging to communist parties greet each other by saying lal-salam meaning red greeting or revolutionary greeting. When I was young, during the panchayat era (Monarchial rule) of Nepal, I could hear government official ending their speech with the greeting Jay desh-jay Naresh, meaning victory of the nation and victory of the king. This way for Nepalese greeting is to show your recognition, identity, and your political leaning.
When Christianity arrived in Nepal, they needed a tool to show their identity, and recognition of each other. Christians simply couldn’t say Namaste, because Namaste did not represent their new Christianity. When you greet each other jay mashi you understand both sides being Christians and are comfortable talking about a religious matter which would not be a good idea with the one who says Namaste.
When Christianity arrived in Nepal, they needed a tool to show their identity, and recognition of each other. Christians simply couldn’t say Namaste, because Namaste did not represent their new Christianity. When you greet each other jay mashi you understand both sides being Christians and are comfortable talking about a religious matter which would not be a good idea with the one who says Namaste.
People attribute Namaste with various meanings in its original language. Some of them are as follows: “Bow to the Divine in You”; “The Divine light (wisdom) in me acknowledges the Divine light (wisdom) in you;” “I honor the spirit in you that is also in me;” “The God in me greets and meets the God in you.”[1] However, many Nepalese people are not aware of such theology behind Namaste. For some Christians who know the real meaning of Namaste, the so-called Nepali national greeting, it would be betraying their faith to greet each other with a word that has deep religious connotations. Some early Christians or missionaries who were stationed in India probably heard a similar greeting among Indian Christians jaimasiki, and translated it into Nepali jaymashi which has become the foremost identity of Nepali Christians.[2]
[1] “Original Meanings Namaste” Internet; accessed on April 17, 2020; https://www.archaicnepal.com/blog/namaste/
[2] Cindy Perry, A Biographical History of the Church in Nepal, (Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepal Church History Project, 1989), 53ff. Perry notes that early Nepali Christians as well as the first missionaries who entered Nepal were first stationed in India. Therefore, we can easily assume the influences of Indian Christian culture in Nepal.
