By Calcutta Music on 10 April 2010
Apr 10, 2010 (Washington Bangla Radio) Both Alaska State Senate and
House of Representatives in Juneau started day’s work with Hindu prayers
on April nine.
Rajan Zed, Hindu leader, read the opening prayers
from ancient Sanskrit scriptures before Senators and Representatives on
this day after sprinkling Gangajal (sacred water from river Ganga of
India). After Sanskrit delivery, he then read the English translation of
the prayers. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and
root language of Indo-European languages.
Rajan Zed (left) reading the prayer from ancient Hindu scriptures in
Alaska House of Representatives. Speaker Mike Chenault (fourth from
left) is also seen
Zed, who is president of 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, Rajan Zed
said “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyor mamrtam
gamaya”, which he then translated as “Lead me from the unreal to the
Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, Lead me from death to
Immortality.” Reciting from Bhagavad-Gita, he urged State Senators and
Representatives to keep the welfare of others always in mind.
Zed
is one of the panelists for “On Faith”, a prestigious interactive
conversation on religion produced jointly by Newsweek and
washingtonpost.com.
He has been awarded “World Interfaith Leader
Award” by National Association of Interchurch and Interfaith Families.
Rajan
Zed also met Alaska Governor Sean Parnell, Lieutenant Governor Craig
Campbell, Senate President Gary Stevens, House of Representatives
Speaker Mike Chenault, Social Services Commissioner Bill Hogan,
Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux, Catholic Bishop Edward Burns,
Juneau City Manager Rod Swope, on the occasion and presented them with a
copy of Bhagavad-Gita each. Priya Keane, who attended the prayer and
whose mother is from India, described it as “wonderful”.
Just
before the actual prayer, Zed said in both Senate and House: “It is an
honorable day for us when prayers from ancient Sanskrit scriptures are
being read in this great hall of democracy of great state of Alaska.”
House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula and Representatives Max Gruenberg
and John Harris personally thanked Zed for the prayers.
Meanwhile
Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening has thanked Alaska
Legislature for opening Senate and House with wisdom from ancient Hindu
scriptures.
Alaska Senate is composed of 20 members while House of
Representatives has 40 members. Lonely Planet describes Alaska as “Big,
beautiful and wildly bountiful” and its Mount McKinley is the highest
mountain peak in North America. Hinduism, oldest and third largest
religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh
(liberation) is its ultimate goal.
Rajan Zed (left) reading the
prayer from ancient Hindu scriptures in Alaska House of Representatives.
Speaker Mike Chenault (fourth from left) is also seen in the picture.
