Hindu mantras in Sanskrit opened City Council meet in Nevada
April 15th, 2009 - 1:21 am ICT by sampurn
- City Council of Sparks, one of the fastest growing city of Nevada (USA), reverberated with Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures for the first time on Monday since its formation in 1905.
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before Sparks City Council today after sprinkling holy water from river Ganga (in India). After Sanskrit delivery, he then read the English translation of the prayer.
According to Linda K. Patterson, Sparks City Clerk, no Hindu has reportedly delivered invocation before Sparks City Council since its formation. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages. Mayor Geno Martini introduced Zed, whom Zed presented a copy of ancient Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord).
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, 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 Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan 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, Lead me from death to Immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged councilors to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
Councilors and others stood respectfully in prayer mode with heads bowed down during the prayer. Collin Ferrari, who came just to listen to the historic prayer, described it as “wonderful”. Zed remarked before the prayer, “It is a historical day of honor for us when ancient Sanskrit scriptures are being read in this great hall of democracy in Sparks.”
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.
Known as “City of Promise”, Sparks is a tailor-made town, custom ordered by the Southern Pacific Railway Company. Its prestigious project “The Legends”, honoring Nevada legends, is expected to complete next year. -Sampurn Media
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April 15th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Dear editor,
Nepal is the origin of Hindus & Buddhas. The Hindu religion is the world’s most liberal and tolerant religion. Nepal despite being a Hindu is the most liberal and tolerant non-secular country in the world. Hindu means ‘Hi’= Sun, ‘Indu’= moon. Nepalese national flag is also mentioned- Sun & Moon. But, the Maoists are going to abolition the originatity of Nepal. The Maoists are the paying agents of anti-Hindus. An analyst Stephen Knapp says- India is slowly losing the Vedic culture (Hinduism) is through the process of secular or Christian education. In public schools all vedic books have been removed from the curriculum. There are no possibilities to study the ancient Hindu literature or art in such institutions. The Hindu population is slowly forgetting theunique history and lofty culture of their homeland.’%th Feb. 2008- Peoples Review) In fact the Christian saints order to destroy the huts where they keep the idols of Hindu’s God & Goddess and to break the statues of Hindus idols into tiny pieces. That was there goal to destroy Hindu & Buddha culture and make the country a Christian nation. Now it is a high time Nepal should be careful to save her indigenous culture.
A Nepali Scholar Mr. Dinbandhu Aryal expains– ‘Hindus are inclusive. ‘H’- stands for humanity, ‘I’- stands for individual righteousness , ‘N’-for nationalism, justice, economic freedom, ‘D’- for divine virtue and ‘U’-for universal peace and co-operation. The word Hindu is formed in the full sense.’
Actually “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work. “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”, or “Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, Lead me from death to Immortality.” This is the real moto of Hindus ways.
Despite knowing this fact it is intriguing on whose interest the seven parties declared Nepal a secular state. Because they had directly hurt the feeling of the majority of the Hindus in the country and more than 1 billion Hindus all over the world. If Israel is the only Jewish country in the world, Nepal also should remain the only Hindu country. Over 80% of Nepal’s 25 million people are Hindu, while in India an estimated 930 million of its population are followers of Hinduism. So, we request to all party leaders & every nations not to think to minimize the reality of Hinduism as well as Pashupathinath & Shoyambhunath.
So, the mantras of Hindus represent the reality of nature & human life.
Thank you.
Dirgha Raj Prasai