Face2News/Nevada (US)

Prominent Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who delivered the invocation (opening prayer) in the United States Senate in Washington DC on July 12, 2007, will deliver the opening prayer again in the Senate on July 30.

Besides the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives; Zed, who is the president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, has read Hindu opening prayers in 310 other legislative bodies in 44 U.S. states and Canada; including state senates, state houses of representatives/assemblies, county commissions, city/town councils; which is a record in itself. Most of these were the first Hindu prayers of these legislative bodies.

Rajan Zed plans to begin and end the Senate prayer on July 30 with “Om,” the mystical syllable containing the universe, used in Hinduism to introduce and conclude religious work. The prayer will include hymns from the world’s oldest surviving scripture.

Zed will read the English interpretation of the original Sanskrit verses from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture in the world that is still in common use; along with verses from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. Instructions to guest ministers from the Senate clearly state that the opening prayer “must be delivered exclusively and entirely in English”.

Beginning with the Gayatri Mantra, considered the holiest mantra of Hinduism, Zed plans to say from Brahadaranyakopanishad: “Lead us from the unreal to the real, Lead us from darkness to light and Lead us from death to immortality.” Reciting from the Bhagavad-Gita, he suggests urging senators and others present to always keep the welfare of others in mind.

Rajan Zed wears a traditional saffron-coloured kurta-pyjama, a rudraksh mala (rosary) and a tilak of sandal paste on his forehead.

Zed, a global Hindu and interfaith leader, has received the World Interfaith Leader Award. Zed serves on the advisory board of The Interfaith Peace Project, etc. He has been a panelist for “On Faith,” a prestigious interactive conversation on religion formerly produced by The Washington Post; and has produced a weekly multifaith panel “Faith Forum” in a Gannett publication for over 13 years.

Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion in the world, has about 1.2 billion followers and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in the US.