3 Utah Councils in US opened with Hindu prayers for the 1st time

Nevada (US), Sept 23 (ANI): In Utah (USA), Council of Salt Lake County and City Councils of West Valley and Sandy reverberated with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures on September 20, which is more than a century after these were established.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered these historic invocations from Sanskrit scriptures. After Sanskrit delivery, he then read the English translation 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, 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 prayers with "Om", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work. Om was followed by Gayatri Mantra, the most sacred mantra in Hinduism.

Zed presented copies of Bhagavad-Gita to Max Burdick (Salt Lake County Council Chair); and Mayors Peter Corroon (Salt Lake County), Mike Winder (West Valley) and Tom Dolan (Sandy) during meetings with them.

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 Councilmembers to keep the welfare of others always in mind. (ANI)