Five Nevada civic bodies open with Hindu mantras

Five Nevada civic bodies opening with Hindu mantras

On July 12, five major civic bodies of Nevada would have opened their official business with Hindu invocation this year, some of them for the first time.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed is delivering invocation from Sanskrit scriptures at the beginning of meetings of these bodies. After Sanskrit delivery, he reads the English translation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Starting with capital Carson City Board of Supervisors on February 18, Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, read the opening prayer at Henderson City Council on May 18; and shall recite the opening invocation of Boulder City Council on June 22, Board of County Commissioners of Clark County on July six, and Sparks City Council on July 12. Many of Nevada civic bodies, like City Council of Reno, do not open with any invocation at all.

Rajan Zed usually recites 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 starts and ends the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Zed says “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, which he then translates 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 urges civic leaders 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.

Sometimes referred to as “Sin State”, sparsely populated but bigger than about 160 countries/territories including United Kingdom, Nevada is known for legalized gambling, limitless tracts of desert, glitzy Las Vegas, art-fueled Burning Man festival, licensed brothels, azure Lake Tahoe, easy marriage/divorce proceedings, nuclear testing, and “The Loneliest Road in America”. Jim Gibbons is the Governor.

ENDS

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