Sanskrit mantras to open Henderson City Council in Nevada for first time

Adhik Vaishakh Shuddha Ekadashi, Kaliyug Varsha 5112

From Our Correspondent

City Council of Henderson, second largest city in Nevada, will reverberate with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures on May 18 reportedly for the first time since its incorporation in 1953.

Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman, will deliver invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Henderson City Council on this day. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayer. 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, dated from around 1,500 BCE, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the 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 roughly translates 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 Councilors to keep the welfare of others always in mind.

Rajan Zed is one of the panelists for “On Faith”, a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com. He has been awarded “World Interfaith Leader Award” by National Association of Interchurch and Interfaith Families.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. Money magazine ranked Henderson at 20th in its top 100 places to live in USA, while Prevention magazine declared it as sixth best walking city in the nation. Singers Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and Sheena Easton are among its residents. Andy A. Hafen is the Mayor.

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