Visalia City Council in California has its first Hindu prayer

Ashadh Krushna Ashtami, Kaliyug Varsha 5112

From Our Correspondant

City Council of Visalia (California, USA), one of the fastest growing cities of California, reverberated with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures on August two, reportedly for the first time since it was incorporated in 1864.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Visalia City Council on this day. After Sanskrit delivery, he 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, recited from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He started and ended the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

City Councilors, city employees and public stood quietly in prayer mode with heads bowed down during the prayer. Wearing saffron colored attire, a ruddraksh mala (rosary), and traditional sandalpaste tilak (religious mark) on the forehead, Rajan Zed said before the actual prayer: “This is a day of honor for us when wisdom from ancient Sanskrit scriptures is being read in this great hall of democracy of great City of Visalia.” Zed sprinkled few drops of sacred water from river Ganga in India around the podium before the prayer. He also presented copies of Bhagavad-Gita to Mayor Robert R. Link and Vice Mayor Amy Shuklian.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Zed said, “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, which he then translated as “Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death to Immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged 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.

Nicknamed “The Jewel of the Valley”, Visalia is the oldest town between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It serves as the economic center to one of the most productive agricultural areas in USA and Oscar winner Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves) attended high school here. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

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