Rajan Zed (third from left) with members of Sparks City Council before the invocation.

City Council of Sparks, one of the fastest growing cities of Nevada (USA), started day’s business with Sanskrit shlokas from ancient Hindu scriptures on Monday.

Rajan Zed, well known Hindu statesman, delivered invocation from Sanskrit scriptures before Sparks City Council on February eight. After Sanskrit delivery, he then read the English translation of the prayer.

Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, recited 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 started and ended the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Reciting from Taittiriya Upanishad, Rajan Zed said: “Om saha naavavatu, Saha nau bhunaktu, Saha viiryan karavaavahai, Tejasvi naavadhiitamastu, Maa vidhvishhaavahai,” which roughly translates as “May we be protected together, May we be nourished together, May we work together with great vigor, May our study be enlightening, May no obstacle arise between us.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged Councilors to “fulfill all your duties, action is better than inaction”.

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 moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Known as “City of Promise”, Sparks is a tailor-made town, custom ordered by the Southern Pacific Railway Company. Geno Martini is the mayor.

Tags: rajan, sanskrit, slokas, zed