Rajan Zed to Open Councils of 10 Utah Cities & Counties with Hindu Prayers
Hindu mantras will open the meetings of ten city and county councils in Utah between June four to seven, containing verses from world’s oldest existing scripture.
These include Weber County Board of Commissioners (Ogden), Wasatch County Council (Heber City), Juab County Commission (Nephi), Payson City Council, Centerville City Council, Heber City Council, Woods Cross City Council, Salem City Council, West Bountiful City Council and Charleston Town Board.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will deliver the invocations from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before these city and county councils. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English interpretation of the prayers. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.
Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use; besides lines fromUpanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end each prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.
Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”; which he will then interpret as “Lead us from the unreal to the real, Lead us from darkness to light, and Lead us from death to immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he proposes to urge councilmembers and others present to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
During this Utah trip, Zed also plans to address students at Brigham Young University (Provo) and meet its Dean of Religious Education Dr. Brent L. Top; and address a gathering at Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple of Utah (South Jordan) and meet Utah Indian community leader Dinesh C. Patel and Temple President Satish K. Nachaegari.
Rajan Zed had opened Utah State Senate, Salt Lake County Council, Utah County Commission (Provo); and city councils of West Valley, Provo, Sandy, Layton, Taylorsville, South Jordan, and Draper—all in Utah; with Hindu invocations in the past.