Amrita Meaning: The Nectar of Immortality in Yoga and Hindu Texts

Amrita (Sanskrit: अमृत, amṛta; Hindi: amrit) means "immortal" and, by extension, "the nectar of immortality". In Hindu stories it is the drink that makes the gods deathless. In yoga texts it is also the name for a subtle nectar said to drip from the head during deep practice, and in the Upanishads it describes the deathless self.

What does amrita mean?

The word has two parts:

• A (अ): not, without.
• Mṛta (मृत): dead, from the root mṛ, to die.

Put together: "not dead", that which does not die. From there the word came to mean immortality itself, and then the drink that gives it. So the two meanings people often keep apart, "immortality" and "nectar", are one idea: the nectar is named after what it does.

Greek has a close relative. Ambrosia, the food of the Olympian gods, comes from ambrotos, "immortal", built the same way: a negative prefix and a word for mortal. Linguists trace both words back to one Indo-European form. The two cultures kept the same picture too: a food or drink that keeps the gods from dying.

Amrit meaning in Hindi

In Hindi, अमृत (amrit) keeps the Sanskrit meaning: nectar, the drink of the gods, immortality. The final a falls away in speech, which is why Hindi and Punjabi say amrit where Sanskrit has amrita. In everyday language it is also praise. Something sweet, pure or life-giving can be called amrit, the way English speakers might say "nectar". Common Hindi synonyms are sudha, piyush, amiya and soma.

As a name, Amrit is usually given to boys and Amrita to girls, both meaning "immortal" or "nectar". The same root gives the city of Amritsar, "pool of nectar", named after the sacred tank around the Golden Temple.

The churning of the ocean

The best-known amrita story is Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean of milk, told in the Mahabharata and several Puranas. The gods (devas) had lost their strength and needed amrita. They could not churn the ocean alone, so they made a truce with the asuras, their rivals. Mount Mandara became the churning rod, the serpent Vasuki the rope, and Vishnu, as the tortoise Kurma, held the mountain on his back.

The ocean gave up many treasures before the nectar, and a poison that Shiva drank to protect the world, which is why he is shown with a blue throat. At last Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, rose with a pot of amrita. Vishnu took the form of Mohini and served the nectar to the gods only. In one popular telling, drops spilled at four places on earth, and the Kumbh Mela is held at those four cities in turn.

Amrita and soma

Older than the churning story is soma, the ritual drink of the Rigveda. The Vedic poets call soma amrita, and one hymn has the singers say that they drank soma and became immortal. What soma was made from is unknown. Scholars have proposed ephedra, a mushroom and many other plants, and none of the theories is settled. Later texts use soma and amrita almost as synonyms, and soma also became a name for the moon, which matters for the yoga meaning below.

Amrita and Atman, the deathless self

In the Upanishads, amrita moves from a drink to a state. The deathless thing is the self. One of the best-known prayers, from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, ends: mṛtyor mā amṛtaṃ gamaya, "lead me from death to immortality". Here immortality means knowing the Atman, the true self, which the Upanishads describe as unborn and undying and as one with Brahman, the ground of everything that exists. The body ages and dies. The self, in this teaching, does not.

This is the sense of the old title of this article, "our true identity". In the Upanishads amrita is what you are underneath, rather than something you drink.

Amrita in hatha yoga

Hatha yoga turns the idea into a picture of the body. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written in the 15th century, places a moon (chandra) in the head that drips nectar, and a sun at the navel that consumes it. As the nectar falls and burns, the body ages. Much of the practice in the text is about keeping it.

• Khechari Mudra: the tongue is turned back and up into the cavity above the soft palate to "drink" the nectar. The text praises it highly: the yogi who drinks the flow is said to be free of disease and decay.
• Jalandhara Bandha: the chin lock, said to stop the nectar from falling into the fire of the navel.
• Viparita Karani: an inverted position, the ancestor of Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), which puts the sun above the moon so the nectar is kept.

The same text works with breath retention and the other locks, Mula Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha. In the Nath and Siddha traditions behind these texts, the goal is a perfected body, divya deha, and the perfected yogi is called a siddha.

A word of caution on Khechari. The full classical version involves gradually cutting the tissue under the tongue. Do not try this from a book. What most modern teachers use is a gentle version: the tip of the tongue rests on the roof of the mouth, far back but without strain, during pranayama or meditation.

Amrita in Sikhism and Buddhism

In Sikhism, amrit is the sweetened water prepared with a double-edged sword (khanda) and recited prayers, and given at the initiation ceremony Amrit Sanchar. The ceremony goes back to Guru Gobind Singh, who founded the Khalsa in 1699. In early Buddhism, the Pali form amata, "the deathless", is one of the names for nirvana. The word travels well because the idea is simple: what does not die.

Where the sources disagree

Amrita means different things in different texts, and some modern explanations go further than the texts do.

• A substance or a symbol? The Hatha Yoga Pradipika speaks of amrita as something that flows and can be swallowed. Many modern teachers read it as a symbol for a state of calm absorption. Some meditators describe a sweet taste or extra saliva in long sits. Both readings are held by serious practitioners, and the text itself does not settle it.
• Pituitary or pineal gland? You will often read that amrita is a hormone from the pituitary or pineal gland that runs into the throat in deep meditation. That is a modern overlay. The old texts speak of a moon in the head, not of glands, and there is no research showing a gland releases a nectar during meditation.
• Freedom from disease and old age. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika promises this for its practices. Read that as the text's own claim, from a tradition that wrote in praise. There is research on meditation and slow breathing, summed up in our beginner's guide to meditation. None of it supports physical immortality or a cure for disease.
• Amrita and ambrosia. Some writers call ambrosia a translation of amrita. It is a cognate: a related word in a related language, with the same build and the same myth. Neither was borrowed from the other.

What holds in every source: amrita means "not dying", and the traditions agree the deathless thing is worth finding.

If you want to meet the ideas on the mat, our yoga philosophy classes go through the texts, and the two-week meditation program gives you fourteen days of sitting still. More words like this one are in our list of 50 Sanskrit yoga terms.

Frequently asked questions

What is the meaning of amrit?

Amrit (Sanskrit amrita) means "immortal" or "not dead", from a (not) and mṛta (dead). It is also the name of the nectar of immortality that the gods drink in Hindu stories, and in Hindi it is used for anything sweet, pure or life-giving.

What does the name Amrit mean?

As a name, Amrit (usually for boys) and Amrita (usually for girls) mean "immortal" or "nectar". The name is common among Hindus and Sikhs.

What is amrita in yoga?

In hatha yoga, amrita is a nectar said to drip from the moon centre in the head. Practices like Khechari Mudra, Jalandhara Bandha and inversions are described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika as ways to keep it. Many modern teachers read it as a symbol for deep calm in meditation.

Is amrita the same as ambrosia?

They are related words with the same meaning. Greek ambrosia and Sanskrit amrita both mean "immortal" and come from one older Indo-European word. Both name the food or drink that keeps the gods from dying.

What are the synonyms of amrit in Hindi?

Common synonyms are sudha, piyush, amiya and soma. In Urdu and Persian, the closest idea is aab-e-hayat, the water of life.

Is amrita the same as soma?

In the Rigveda, soma is a ritual drink that the poets call amrita, the drink of immortality. Later texts use the two words almost as synonyms, and soma also became a name for the moon. What plant soma was made from is still unknown.

What is amrit in Sikhism?

Amrit is the sweetened water, stirred with a double-edged sword while prayers are recited, that is given at the Sikh initiation ceremony, Amrit Sanchar. Guru Gobind Singh began the ceremony when he founded the Khalsa in 1699.