Pennsylvania Houses to open with Hindu mantras

Pennsylvania state building
Pennsylvania State Capitol
Pennsylvania state building

HARRISBURG: Both Pennsylvania State Senate and House of Representatives in Harrisburg will start their respective sessions on June 19 with Hindu prayers, containing verses from world’s oldest existing scripture.

Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will recite from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use; 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.

Reciting from Brahadaranyakopanishad, Rajan Zed plans to say “Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya, Mrtyormamrtamgamaya”, which he will then interpret as “Lead us from the unreal to the real.”

Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack and Senator Joseph B. Scarnati III are President and President Pro Tempore respectively of the Pennsylvania State Senate, which consists of 50 Senators. Pennsylvania House of Representatives has 203 members and Mike Turzai is its Speaker.

Official website of the “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” states: “Here, you can pursue your happiness to the fullest”, and adds: “This nation was born in Philadelphia, saved at Gettysburg”. Tom Wolf is the Governor of “Keystone State”, which was founded in 1681.

India Post News Service