Most Hindus in India would have heard this sloka from Bhagavad Gita 'Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya', in English this means, 'Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, and Lead me from death to Immortality.' This is the sloka that the Hindu statesman Rajan Zed will recite while addressing the first Hindu invocations held at Ceres and Riverbank city councils in California (USA), on June 11.  This would be the first of its kind ever since the councils were incorporated in 1918 and 1922 respectively.

This is one of the rarest moments in the history, when two American Councils would be starting with a Sanskrit prayer. Sanskrit is considered as the divine language by the chaste Hindus. Worldwide there is a general belief that Sanskrit has been the root language for Indo-European languages.

Zed is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism. In addition he has been awarded 'World Interfaith Leader Award' and is Senior Fellow and Religious Advisor to New York headquartered Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, Spiritual Advisor to National Association of Interchurch & Interfaith Families, etc. in addition to this he is one of the panelists for "On Faith", a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced by The Washington Post.

It would be a privilege bestowed on Zed to read out the prayer cited from the Hindu Holy Scriptures like Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and from Rig Veda mainly. After reciting in Sanskrit, he shall translate in English. Zed propose to start and end the prayer with Aum (OM) the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

The renowned Hinduism preaches the ways for liberation (moksha). It is the third largest followed religion in the world with one billion devotees (believers). (With Inputs from Internet- Aarkay)