THINKNOVATION • SANSKRIT MANTRAS OPEN OREGON LEGISLATURES

Oregon Legislature Begins with OHM

Friday, 23 January 2009 22:04 |

Written by francis pruett |

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Sanskrit mantras to open both Oregon State Senate & House of Representatives

Oregon State Senate and House of Representatives in Salem (USA) will reverberate with Sanskrit mantras on January 28 and 29 respectively.

Rajan Zed, acclaimed Hindu statesman, will read the opening prayers from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before Senators and Representatives on these days. After Sanskrit delivery, he then will read the English translation of the prayers. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of all Indo-European languages.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite 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 plans to start and end the prayer with "OM", the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents. Moksha (liberation) is the ultimate goal of Hinduism. Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say "Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam gamaya", which roughly translates as "Lead us from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to Light, and from death to Immortality."

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 The Beaver State, Oregon is the home of Nike and more ghost towns than any other State in USA.