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Hindu prayers opened both Oregon Senate & House of Representatives in USA

Groundbreaking Sanskrit mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures reverberated in the Oregon House of Representatives in Salem yesterday, reportedly for the first time in its history.

On Wednesday, Hindu shlokas opened the session of Oregon State Senate in Salem. Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed read both the prayers. Both days, Senators and Representatives stood quietly in prayer mode with their heads bowed down, when Zed recited from an ancient Sanskrit scriptures after sprinkling gangajal (holy water from river Ganga in India) around the podium.

"It is a great honor 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. After the Sanskrit delivery, Zed then read the English translation of the prayers. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and a root language of Indo-European languages.

Rajan Zed, who is the president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, recited from * Rig-Veda*, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, dated from around 1,500 BCE, besides 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", which he then translated as "Lead us from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to Light, and from death to Immortality."

Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Dave Hunt introduced Zed in Senate and House respectively, while Ted Ferrioli, Senate Republican Leader thanked him personally for the blessings. Representative Vicki Berger, who invited Zed to the House, listed Zed's various achievements in her address. Senator Jackie Winters invited Zed for a Senate prayer. Zed later met Oregon Governor's Senior Policy Advisor Daniel P. Santos and Salem Mayor Janet Taylor and discussed various issues, including interfaith dialogue. He presented copies of *Bhagavad-Gita* to Courtney, Hunt, and Santosand Taylor.

Nagaraj Raghavendran, who works as Systems Architect for the State of Oregon, and who met Rajan Zed between the prayers, later commented that it was a "good feeling" to have a Sanskrit presence on the Senate and House floors. He hoped that these prayers would provide an insight to both Senators and Representatives to explore Hinduism and Sanskrit more.

Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents. Moksha (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.

The Oregon State Senate consists of 30 members, each representing about 114,000 citizens; while Oregon State House of Representatives is formed of 60 members, each representing about 57,000 citizens. Known as Beaver State, Oregon is the home of Nike and most ghost towns than any other State in USA.