An Eco Dharma of Bishnois who are ready to sacrifice their lives to protect trees and wild animals

Q. As you know that we use 'NAVAN PRANAAM' for greeting.. I want to know about the meaning of word 'NAVAN' inside 'NAVAN PRANAM'.

Ans.NAVAN or NIVAN is a sort of local Rajasthani name for hindi word
NAMAN( Jhuk kar pranam/puja) with NAMRATA (means Politeness).

Even the Hindi word NAMASKAR has the part NAM of it.

So Navan Pranam or Nivan Pranam means that I am wishing you politely
(NICHE JHUK KAR SALAM) and not with ego or as a formality.

In other Rajasthani Communities, they call it, "NIVAN KARA SAA"
You might have seen that some people even bow down their head when

wishing some one with respect. That is exactly physical action of this word.

Guru maharaj have used this word in many shabads for example

In shabad 23 & 30 Guru Ji said, "Je naviye navani , khaviye khavni…", means if you wish/welcome the suitable person with politeness/without ego or proud……… then you have achieved the complete knowledge.

In shabad 30 he said, "Swami Pawana pani, navan karanto" means why you did not do NAVAN(wish by heart/with politness) to God and Air, Water….

Shabad -5 "Namo Narayan " means we should naman(wish politely) to the God.

In Shabad-98, he said, "Jake bahuti navani , bahuti khavani….." means those people who have NAMRATA(politness) and KSHMA(forgiveness) they are really great people.

Actually Guru Ji was against GHAMAND (unnecessary proud or ego) and he favoured simple & polite life but unfortunately in Bishnoi community mostly it is found the other way.

I tried to explain as per my available knowledge and hope it will be helpful but you are most welcome to ask if any doubt. Views from other members are also welcome.

One more thing I forgot to mention :) If some one says, "Navan Pranam" to us then we reply, "Jambhoji ne Vishnu ne". This reply again represents politeness. It means that the most suitable candidate for NAVAN PRANAM is Guru Jambhoji and God Vishnu. By this way we are wishing to Guru Jambho Ji and Vishnu Bhgwan.

Similary before taking first bite of our food we speak,"Vishnu ge Arpan, Jambhoji ge arpan" means our food is offered to Jambhoji and Vishnu bhagwan.By this way it is considered that the food gives maximum benefits and we get chance to offer to lord and thank him.

These are few good ways in our community to recite Guru Ji's name and God Vishnu's name many times a day during doing normal activities.