Amrita
Amrita or Amruta (Sanskrit: अमृत, IAST: amṛta), also rendered Amrit or Amata in Pali (also known as Sudha, Amiy, or Ami) is a concept in Indian religions denoting "immortality" and, by extension, the nectar or elixir of immortality. The term is cognate with, and shares similarities with, ambrosia, both deriving from a common Proto-Indo-European source. Its earliest occurrence is in the Rigveda, where amrita is one of several terms associated with soma, the drink of the devas. It also occupies a central place in the account of the Samudra Manthana, in which possession of amrita and the immortality it confers becomes the object of conflict between the devas and the asuras.
The meaning and use of amrita vary among the Indian religions. In Sikhism, amrit has several closely related senses. "Taking amrit" (amrit chhakana) refers to receiving initiation (amritsanskar) in the khaṇḍe-dī-pāhul ceremony, using sweetened baptismal water. According to Sikh tradition, Guru Gobind Singh first prepared amrit in 1699 to initiate the Khalsa. During the preparation of amrit for the Sikh naming ceremony, only the first five verses of the Japji Sahib are recited.
In popular Sikh usage, amrit may also denote holy water believed to possess healing properties, particularly water that has been placed near the Ādi Granth during a pāṭh (reading). In the Ādi Granth the term is also used metaphorically to suggest both immortality and sweetness, especially as the result of meditation upon God's name (nām simaran), as in the expression "Ambrosial (amrit) is the True Name" (Ādi Granth 33). The expression amrit velā denotes the hour before dawn, regarded as especially precious for prayer.
Amrit is also a common personal name among Sikhs and Hindus, with the feminine form Amritā.
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