'Inspirational' Hindu prayer resounds in Oregon House

Representatives stood quietly in prayer mode with heads bowed, when Rajan Zed recited from ancient Sanskrit scriptures after sprinkling gangajal (holy water from the river Ganga) around the podium. He started and ended the prayer with 'Om'

CJ: Correspondent

Fri, Apr 24, 2009 03:00:56 IST

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Religion And Culture :

THE OREGON House of Representatives Speaker has found words of the historic first Hindu opening prayer in the House in Salem “helpful in focussing.” Dave Hunt, House Speaker, in a signed letter to acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who recited this prayer in Sanskrit and then translated it into English, said, “Your words were inspirational, encouraging, and helpful in focusing my colleagues and me on our work for that day and for this entire legislative session.”

Rajan Zed, who is president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, recited from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from the Upanishads and Bhagvad 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”, which he then translated as “Lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, and from death to Immortality.”

Representatives stood quietly in prayer mode with heads bowed, when Zed recited from ancient Sanskrit scriptures after sprinkling gangajal (holy water from the river Ganga) around the podium. “It is a great honour for us when ancient Sanskrit scriptures are being read in this great hall of democracy of the great State of Oregon,” Zed said before the House prayer. The sacred language of Sanskrit is considered to be the root of Indo-European languages.

Speaker Hunt introduced Zed in the House. Representative Vicki Berger, who invited Zed to the House, listed Zed’s various achievements in her address. Zed also read the opening prayer in Oregon State Senate.

Oregon Governor Theodore R. Kulongoski issued “Congratulations” document on the occasion. “It has been a historic two days to have Hindu prayers offered in both chambers of the Seventy-Fifth Oregon Legislative Assembly,” the document signed by Kulongoski said.

The Oregon State House of Representatives consists of 60 members, each representing about 57,000 citizens. Known as Beaver State, Oregon is the home of Nike.

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