Let us love our adopted motherland

Thou, Ahura Mazda, hast put love of one's country in every human breast. Thou hast made the land of his birth dear to man. Airyana Vaeja, the stemland of the Aryans, was the best of all lands, says the Vendidad, that thou didst create. Airyana, Iran became the primitive fatherland of our ancestors:

Here was made our history for two thousands years and more. Our great empire fell in the seventh century, leaving us the priceless patrimony of the heroic deeds and noble ideals of our Iranian forebears. The proud memories and sweet recollections of the unforgettable achievements of the Pishdadians and Kianians, Achaemenians and Sasanians still cheer us and enthuse us and inspire us.

When our National greatness and glory were lost beyond recall, thou, in thy mercy, didst not forsake us. Thou didst guide a noble band of exiles to the hospitable shores of this hoary land. The hymn to Sraosha recited by us for some three thousand years has familiarized us with Hapta Hindu or Sapta Sindhu, the land of the seven rivers. Our fugitive fathers adopted this country as our new Home. This was twelve hundred years ago. Here have our fathers lived and died and their ashes lie mingled in the Indian soil.

India is our common motherland and we of various castes and creeds are all her children. Patriotism is colorless and creedless. It is the common civic religion that unites all races and communities of the country under one flag and one destiny. Let us always pray for the union of hearts, that good-will may reign supreme between the various communities of diverse faiths and weld them into one Indian Nation. Let Indian nationality be founded on the political unity of the peoples that inhabit this country.

A millennium and more ago our fathers, the early settlers in India, hailed this country as their new native land. Let us then live not exclusively our communal life, but let us live as a part of the great Indian nation that is in the making. Let us serve our country to the best of our ability. Let us sacrifice our good to the good of our country. Let our private interests yield to the public interests. As citizens of the soil, let us pledge our all to the common good of the country. Let us work with all our heart and all our soul for the advancement of the country. Great was India's past; greater is to be her future. Let us contribute our share to the making of her future greatness.

India is the land of our hope and happiness. Our lives belong to our country. We will work to promote the well-being of our country. We will love India, we will serve India, we will stand by India, we will sacrifice our all for India, for India is ours, our own now and for evermore.

The Sermon commencing under the Title-head of "Let us love our adopted motherland" shown above, was written in 1945 by the late author.

Since 14th August 1947, members of the Parsee Community, who remained in the Area ceded to Pakistan, have since treated Pakistan as their land of adoption and hence their Motherland and accordingly wherever the word "India" appears "Pakistan" should be read.

This sermon was written during India's struggle for Home Rule and Independence from the British Empire. The appreciation and gratitude that the author shows towards the land of his home is commendable, and a valuable lesson for all of us Zoroastrians of the second diaspora, as well as every member of the human race.

This page was last updated on Tuesday, August 01, 2000.