Georgetown Town Council starts day with Hindu mantras

The Georgetown Town Council, reportedly for the first time since its establishment in 1791, opened its Jan. 27 meeting with Hindu prayer containing verses from the world’s oldest extant scripture.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed delivered the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures remotely before the council meeting. After Sanskrit delivery, he then  read the English interpretation of the prayers. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, Zed recited from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use. He also recited 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 Brahadaranyakopanishad, Zed said, “Asato ma sad gamaya. Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya. Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya.” To interpret, he said, “Lead us from the unreal to the real. Lead us from darkness to light. And lead us from death to immortality.”

Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged councilmembers and others present to keep the welfare of others always in mind.

Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.2 billion adherents and moksh, or liberation, is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in the United States.