Hindu leader visits Idaho Falls to share oldest verses in scripture
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IDAHO FALLS — Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, travels throughout the United States, reciting Hindu mantras or invocations at government meetings and sharing a message of peace with the officials he meets.
On May 21, he stopped in Idaho Falls to share Hindu mantras at the start of a Bonneville County Commission meeting at the Bonneville County Courthouse.
The commissioners emphasized they do not typically begin their meetings with any kind of prayer, but allowed Zed to make his presentation.
Zed has opened the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and 16 state legislative bodies with a Hindu invocation.
The Reno, Nevada resident travels throughout the United States, sharing his message with others but emphasized that Hindus do not seek to convert others to their religion.
Zed said 3 million Hindus live in the United States, with 1.2 billion members of the faith around the globe – making it the third largest religion after Christianity and Islam.
Zed has planned previous trips to Idaho, sharing his mantras in Owyhee County and other locations, but has occasionally drawn controversy for his efforts to share a Hindu prayer in a public meeting. EastIdahoNews.com previously reported on Zed, when the city of American Falls canceled his prayer presentation at their council meeting.
RELATED | American Falls City Council cancels Hindu invocation after community feedback
Zed recited from the “Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use; alongside lines from Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures,” according to a news release.
He starts each prayer with “Om,” “the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious works,” the release said.
He also read from Brahadaranyakopanishad in Sanskrit, “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya”; which means “Lead us from the unreal to the real, Lead us from darkness to light, and Lead us from death to immortality.”
“Hinduism is the oldest religion of any of the religions,” Zed said. “There is no date of foundation.”
Learn more about Hinduism, Zed’s message and his faith in the video above.