Hindu Prayer in California City Hall

City Council of Vacaville (California, USA), one of the fastest growing areas of the nation, reverberated with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures on July 27, reportedly for the first time since it was incorporated in 1892.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Vacaville 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 during the prayer. Wearing saffron colored attire, a ruddraksh mala (rosary), and traditional sandalpaste tilak (religious mark) on the forehead, Rajan Zed sprinkled few drops of sacred water from river Ganga in India around the podium before the prayer. He also presented a copy of Bhagavad-Gita to Mayor Len Augustine.

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.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. Established in 1850, Vacaville houses California's legendary road stop "Nut Tree". (ANI)

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