January 31, 2021
Rajan Zed
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.