AUGUSTA — The Maine House of Representatives and Senate will open their June 3 and 4 sessions, respectively, with Hindu mantras, containing verses from the world’s oldest extant scripture.

Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism.

Rajan Zed of Nevada, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, will read the invocations at 10 a.m. Monday, June 3, in the House of Representatives, and at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 4, in the Senate.

He will deliver the invocation from ancient Sanskrit scriptures. Afterward, he will read the English interpretation of the prayer. Sanskrit is considered a sacred language in Hinduism and root language of Indo-European languages.

Zed 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.