USHAO
Volume III No.
12
February-March 2003: Mah
Spendarmad, Fasal Sal 1371: Gathas: 16-3-03/20-3-03
ARVERDEGAN
for
THE BLESSINGS OF
FRAVASHIS
We commemorate the Fravashis of men and women of all climes,
who have worked for the
furtherance of righteousness.
May the Fravashis bless us
with knowledge and health.
May they keep watch over our
abodes, and may they always protect us.
Let us so live that our
living may be an honor to our departed.
“There are no reserved
seats in the theater of God. There are no classes in the amphitheatre of
the Creator. There are no bargains, there are no sales and there are no
purchases. It is all a plan of God. Those who understand, and those
who know how to receive without distinction, those who know how to forget
themselves gazing at the sacred fire, those who are convinced that the Life in
its essence is clean, is pure, is Love and is God, become the receivers of love
from all sides and all quarters. They know that love is not a commodity
for storing, that love has to be consumed in the burning fire to create
fragrance for all and to be sent to all the four corners of the globe that it
may reach every one.”[Jamshed
Nusserwanji]
IN THIS ISSUE
05 ZARATHUSHTRA’S RELIGION OF JOYOUSNESS: P.D. Mehta
06 HEROINES OF ANCIENT IRAN: Stories of Purandukht & Azarmdukht
The Marchioness of Winchester
12 BAI DOSIBAI DASTURNA [Life
Sketch]
FIRE A SACRED ELEMENT
Framroz
Rustomjee
Z
arathushtra discovered that
Fire was one earthly symbol that interpreted, to the fullest, God’s Great Law of
Order. The several Sparks that go to form the fire eventually blend into
one great flame which, throws its beams upwards, drawing down as it were from
the God of the Universe the energy that is needed to keep itself active.
Thus fire stood as the magnificent symbol of Law, Energy, Force, Light and
Radiance. Then Zarathushtra realized how
very essential it was to feed the fire with fragrant wood and incense. Zarathushtra was realizing
all this knowledge from within the depth of0 himself. The Fravashi that
dwelt within Zarathushtra
was revealing more and more of His Glory to God’s servant to prepare him for his
mission among mankind, drinking deeper and deeper at the Fountain of Divine
Lore, increasing in wisdom and stature towards the goal of
Perfection.
Zarathushtra was not slow to
realize the Holy Flame that burnt within him. It was the Spark of God that
was rising into flame. He saw that the flame within him had to be perpetually
energized, and that the only way in which he could do so was by the fragrance of
righteous thoughts, words and deeds of his life, which served as the inner
offering to the flame within him. He therefore tended the Sacred Flame of
his temple with offering of dry fragrant wood as a constant reminder to his mind
of the fragrant offering of absolutely pure thoughts – Humata, of
absolutely pure words – Hukhta, and of absolutely pure deeds –
Huvarashta.
Zarathushtra learnt that
fire was an element that could never be made impure, but that it could burn away
and thus cleanse all impurity, though the human conscience was bound to receive
its pangs by any act done to pollute a fire. Zarathushtra therefore
taught laws of guidance of all mankind to preserve fire as sacred element.
On earth, fire represented the Indwelling Divine Energy. He commended all
the priests of his religion to tend the fires of the temples, and to recognize
in the radiance of the fire, the all-pervading Love and Mercy of God, whose
abode always is the abode of Light.
It is interesting to observe how very
scientifically and by a gradual process of deep culture Zarathushtra became the
Enlightened One in those prehistoric times. His profound views on religion
disclose the reaction of the mind against the mere worship of nature, which
drifts the mind into polytheism and into “the Doctrine of Emanations.”
[Source: ‘The Life of Holy Zarathushtrta’ by the author]
IN PRAISE
OF GATHAS
From all that dwells below the skies,
Let faith and hope with joy arise,
Let beauty, truth, and good be sung,
In every land and every tongue.
SAOSHYANT
[Part
Three]
Ali A.
Jafarey
Saoshyant in Pahlavi
Scriptures
I would prefer to present the Pahlavi version as
given by my Mentor Dasturji Dr. Mankeckji N. Dhalla, in his outstanding work,
“History of Zoroastrianism”, New York 1938, pages 423-427.
“THE
RENOVATION
“Those who further the work of final
restoration: The work of regenerating the world was commenced by Gayomard,
the first man, and was looked forward to from the time of the Gathas, will be
brought to completion and perfection by Sashyos the last savior. Gayomard,
Jamshid, Zarathusht, and all pious men who have worked for the betterment of the
universe are among those that help in bringing about the final renovation.
The great work proceeds with greater or lesser success according as mankind are
stronger or weaker in the practice of righteousness as various periods. In
two of his visions the prophet sees a tree with four and seven branches
respectively. The branches are made of different metals and represent the
various periods of the religious history of Zoroastrianism. The first and
the golden branch represents the golden age of the faith under King Gushtasp
[Vishtaspa], the silver and steel boughs symbolize a decadence, while the iron
branch, or age of the great catastrophe, is the period of the final overthrow of
the empire, the overwhelming cataclysm that threatened to submerge the world
except the triumph of virtue and right. When the mighty work of reclaiming
mankind from evil is accomplished, there will follow the Renovation of the
universe. Those who work to bring this period nearer are said to be
holding communion with Ormazd.
“Saviors: Born immaculately: Ormazd sends
his special messengers at various periods of chaos and confusion to save
humanity from the clutches of Ahriman. This is clear in the Gathas as in
the Yonger Avesta. These Messianic heralds of the real truth to be
embodied in the final Soshyos, exemplify righteousness completes and translates
the abstract teachings of religion into concrete actions that thus make the
seemingly incomprehensible intelligible and tangible to the masses. The
most prominent among these leaders in the last three millennium, as noted
before, are the three sons that are to be born miraculously to Zarthusht from
his seed through a supernatural conception by a maid, bathing in the waters of
lake Kans (an idea as old as Yasht 19), and the names of these three ideal
promoters of mankind, as perpetuated in the forms current during the Pahlavi
period as Hoshedar, Hoshedar-mah and Soshyos, who will appear at an interval of
a millennium each. It is said that Zarthusht went three times to his wife
Hvovi and each time the seed went to the ground. On each of these
occasions, important for mankind, the spiritual seeds were caught up by the
angle Neryosangh and entrusted to the keeping of Ardvisur, the divinity of
waters, and from these sanctified waters they will be born in time to come, as
miraculously conceived at different periods by three virgins. The advent
of all-beneficial renovators of the faith for the regeneration of the world
will, as we shall see below, be attended with portents and miraculous
signs.
“The millennium of Hoshedar: A child is
born to a virgin named Shemik-abu of the age of fifteen, who miraculously
conceives Zarathusht’s seed when she drinks the waters from a pool. The seed was
emitted during the lifetime of Zarathusht and lay concealed in the waters
until the maiden kindled the germs and became pregnant. The child thus
immaculately born in the first three millenniums of the world is named Hoshedar,
a later modified corrupt transcript of the Avestan Ukhshyatereta. In the first
of the last three thousand years of the world, before the final renovation and
the resurrection, he holds, at the age of thirty, a conference with Ormazd and
receives a revelation. When he returns from this divine conference,
Hoshedar makes the sun stand still for ten days and ten nights to convince the
people of the world about authenticity of his mission. During
his millennium, righteousness, liberality, and all the virtues supreme will be
practiced during this aeon. Two thirds of the people of Iran, according to
the Pahlavi texts, will turn out righteous. The wisdom of the religion will
constantly increase the poverty of the people and slaughter of cattle will
decrease, as she is the benefactor that will help the wickedness of the wolfish
nature of mankind.
“The millennium of Hoshedar-mah: A maiden
named Shapir-abu is destined to approach the waters and conceive thereby, again
through the second seed of Zarthusht. The virgin who has never approached
man gives birth to a child who is named Hoshedar-mah, an imperfect rendering of
the Avestan Ukhshyant-nemangh, who confers with Ormazd. At the age of
thirty years he announces his advent by making the sun to stand still for twenty
days and twenty nights. His benign presence and Messianic power, it is
destined, will destroy the wicked power of every serpentine and monster
engender. Mankind greatly advances toward the realization of the final
goal of perfection during this millennium. Cattle give milk in great
quantities. In connection with this millennium view, it may be added, from
the Pahlavi texts of this later period, that the small cattle which gives milk
will give milk then in redoubled quantity, and a cow will give such milk as
could be used by a thousand men. Hunger and thirst will decrease, as the
world reaches nearer to its perfection. A single meal will be sufficient
to satisfy a man for three days. Mankind will furthermore become so versed
in the art of healing, and in the science of physical culture that it will be
able to withstand disease and death more successfully. Humility, peace,
and liberality will be now and forever more zealously practiced by
men.
“The millennium of Soshyos: The word
according to the Pahlavi texts, which carry onward the ideal teachings of
Zarathusht in the Gathas as developed further in the Younger Avesta, in ever
striving and tending toward final betterment, and will reach perfection in the
millennium of Soshyos. It needs only the final touch of the greatest of
renovators to bring about the result for the eternal welfare of the universe.
Men by this time, when these millennial conditions have been reached have ceased
eating meat, and subsist on milk, and vegetables form only food of mankind. The
Bundahisn moreover, adds that, before Resurrection and the Renovation of the
universe occur, men will give up milk, vegetables, and even water and they will
ultimately subsists without food of any kind, and yet not die. Still
another Pahlavi text states that during the period of the fifty-seven years of
the activity of this last apostle mankind will be able to subsists for seventeen
years simply on vegetables, then thirty on water alone and for the last ten
years on spiritual food.
“At this time according to the texts, when the
world is ripe to welcome the last of the prophets, a virgin named Gobak-abu
conceives immaculately the third seed of Zarthusht in the same manner as her two
forerunners had done. At the age of fifteen she becomes pregnant and gives
birth to the most illustrious Soshyos in the realm of Khvaniras. When the
final savior is thirty years of age, the sun stands still in the zenith, of the
sky for thirty days and thirty nights; through his supernal power of the demonic
nature among men will be broken. He will cause Resurrection and the future
existence. His body, which is as radiant as the sun, partakes only of
spiritual food and he is clad with kingly glory. Around him he looks with
the power of six eyes and he it is that foresees the end of the Evil
Spirit. He is the greatest renovator of the world. He comes to
restore the dead to life, and to bring final perfection to the
world.
“Any kind of wickedness that may still be
lingering, in spite of the supreme beneficence will perish through his
presence. The angels will enable mankind to cooperate with the great
apostle Soshyos to rout Druj. In advance of his divine mission to
the world he has met Ormazd in conference and has received the supreme sanction
for his task. During the fifty-seven years of his work, he will drive out the
drujes from the world, and will make the world eternally
happy.”
Dasturji Dhalla has provided his chapter of twelve
pages [423-433] with Pahlavi references to present it in a condensed form
[references not stated here for the sake of brevity]. He has nothing to
mention on Shah Bahram Varjavand even in his nine chapters on “A Period
of Decadence from the seventh to the eighteenth century” (pages 437-477).
[To be continued].
ZARATHUSHTRA’S RELIGION OF JOYOUSNESS
P.D. Mehta
M
any people shy away from
religion because they feel that to be religious means to be solemn, to shun the
legitimate joys of everyday life, to spend one’s life praying and fasting, in
short to be miserable. Nothing could be further from truth.
Religious living simply means living daily secular life virtuously. It can well
include prayer and worship, for those are spontaneous expressions of man’s
tenderly growing awareness of Transcendence, and of the fact that he is
primarily a religious being and only secondarily everything else. Zarathushtra as a man of
action and as a Prophet of God was a very practical man with sound psychological
insight. He well knew that man of course will run away from a misery
agent, but incline favorably towards happiness bringer. So he affirmed
that not only God but also this physical world is good. Thus one of the
outstanding features of Zarathushtrian religion is its
joyousness.
Zarathushtra says:
“Tell me truly, O Ahura, How may I walk in beatific joy with you in full companionship (Ys.44.17)
“Of this (Holy) Spirit. Thou art indeed the Holy Father; Thou didst create this earth for our joy. (Ys.47.3)
[Source: “Zarathushtra – The
Transcendental Vision”:by the
author]
HEROINES OF ANCIENT IRAN
The Marchioness of Winchester
Stories of Purandukht and
Azarmdukht
PURANDUKHT
After the death of Shirwi (A.D. 628), who ruled
only for seven months, several other sons of Khusrau Parwiz ruled over Iran; but
were murdered by different conspirators until no Princes were left. Thus, for a
considerable period, the country had no King. Eventually, however, the
people gave the throne and crown to Princess Purandukht, a sister of Shirwi, and
a descendant of Sasan
Purandukht (Puranducht, A.D.630-631) was a good and gentle lady, and had been horrified at the part Shirwi had taken to bring his father’s death. Now that the country had made her its Queen, she determined to purify the atmosphere, and to see that justice was adequately meted out to the wrongdoers and that peace prevailed. Her words, as she took her seat upon the throne, may serve as evidence of her great zeal:
I will not have
The people scattered and I will enrich
The poor with treasure that they may not bide
In their distress, God grant that in the world
There may be none aggrieved, because his pain
Is my calamity, I will expel
Foes from my realm, and walk in royal
ways.
Wise as she was good, Queen Purandukht very soon
succeeded in reviving law and order in the land of Iran. But her reign
proved all too brief. Within six months of her accession to the throne,
she fell ill and died. Reflecting on the sudden death of Purandukht, the
poet gives us some of the finest couplets in the Shahnama,
the wise man of Tus anticipating by many centuries some of the famous quatrains
in the Rubaiyat of Omar
Khayyam:
Such is the process of the turning sky, For sixty years o thirty, ten or four,
So potent while so impotent are we! It cometh to one thing, when all is done,
If thine be opulence or poverty, If thou hadst many years or barely one.
If life affordeth gain or loss to thee, Oh! May thine actions thine own comrades be,
If thou shalt win what thou desirest so, For they in every place will succor thee.
Or disappointed be in wretchedness, Let go thy clutch upon this Wayside Inn
And whether thou be one of wealth or woe, Because a goodlier place is thine to win,
Both woe and wealth will pass away no less, If thine endeavor be to learning given,
Reign as a Shah a thousand years, five
score, Thou wilt by knowledge roam revolving
heaven.
Purandukht was the first historical Shahbanu, who
as reigning sovereign of Iran graced the throne of Cyrus and Darius, Ardshir and
Shapur. Among other things, she is said to have restored the “True
Cross”, but it seems more probable that this was done in the reign of Ardshir,
her predecessor on the throne of Iran, if the date of its elevation at
Jerusalem---14th of September in the year 629 of the Christian era is correct.
AZARMDUKHT
After the death of Purandukht, her sister
Azarmdukht (Azermidocht, A.D. 631-632) came to the throne. Although a capable
ruler, with excellent intentions, she seems to have been a somewhat formidable
lady, intolerant and over-conscious of her power, as may be gathered from her
first address to the people:
O sages, veterans
And masters of affairs! Be just in all,
And follow precedent, for ye hereafter
Must make the bricks your pillow. I will foster
The loyal liege, assist him with dinars
And if he erreth be long suffering;
But him that is disloyal and deserteth
The way of wisdom and of precedent
Will I suspend in shame upon the gibbet,
Be he an Arab, Ruman cavalier,
Or Persian Thane.
We are told that the chief noble of the time, who
was governor of Khurasan, wished to make Azarmdukht his wife, upon which she had
him privately executed for his presumption. This noble’s son was the
Rustom, who fought valiantly against the Arabs and fell at the battle of
Kadisiya some years later. On hearing of his father’s fate Rustom, who was
in temporary authority in Khurasan, marched with great army against Azrmudukht,
overthrew her and put her death. This occurred when the unfortunate Queen
had reigned but four months.
Azarmdukht was the last Persian Princess who ruled
the country of Iran in ancient times, and the last heroine whose story is told
in Shahnama. Firdausi closes his poem with the reign
Yazdagird (Isd- egird III, A.D. 632-652), the last Zoroastrian Emperor of Iran.
[Series concluded]
WISDOM OF THE
EAST
Look to this day,
For yesterday is but a dream.
And tomorrow is a vision.
But today well lived,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness.
And every tomorrow is a vision of hope.
So, look well to this
day.
[Translated from
Sanskrit]
THE SEEDS OF DIVINE
Dr. Jose Luis
Abreu
Long ago, in ancient times,
A wise man met the divine,
He was given some seeds,
The divine said: “This is
what men need.”
He started planting in his hand,
Some seeds of Vohuman,
Later, many people received happiness.
Harvesting fruits of
Righteousness.
The plants from those seeds,
Gave countless fruits to humanity,
For some flavored with Armaity.
Somebody said: This is what
we need.
After many years of cultivation,
The wise man passed away,
But before that, he addressed all to say,
If I depart, please don’t
stop the propagation.
He asked to plant without limitation,
In the color of the skin or nationality,
These seeds should have intensity,
To reach any land ready for
plantation.
Nobody should be denied the opportunity,
Of planting these wonderful seeds,
They are for whoever is in the need,
Reaching for better life of
immortality.
Somehow the seeds in a different land arrived,
Where nobody thought they could grow,
Some people did not want there the seeds to go,
But despite this adversity,
they are indeed alive.
The seeds are growing so fast,
Becoming strong trees,
That a friend said: “Here are at last.”
If you do not believe me,
come and see.
These seeds belong to any land,
With a soil made of Vohuman,
Not just to a special personality,
That thinks of chosen by
divinity.
It would be against human rights,
Not to give the necessary light,
Needed by the good seeds,
Growing into strong
trees.
My friend, the Gathas are the seeds,
That our lives should finally meet,
As they become strong trees,
The House of Song our
sheltering need..
And Zarathushtra is the wise man
One who started the cultivation.
Using our bright Vohuman,
Let’s keep alive his good
intention.
“If we could erase the “I’s” and “mine’s” from religion, politics, economics etc.
We should soon be free and
bring heaven upon earth.
[Mahtma
Gandhi]
SHOULD YOU ALWAYS FORGIVE?
Roxanne
Roberts
O
n Sept 11, 2002, Toad
Beamer was on doomed United Flight 93 headed for San Francisco. Minutes before
the plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania, he asked an air-phone
operator to send his love to his family, then began to pray, “Our Father, who
art in Heaven…” Days later, his widow, Lisa remarked that the Lord’s
Prayer asks God “to forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us. And in some ways, he was forgiving those people for what they
were doing; the most horrible thing you could ever do to
someone.”
For centuries, the subject of forgiveness has
fascinated and vexed moral men and women. It pits judgment against mercy, rage
against compassion, instinct against intellect. Forgiveness is one of the
key doctrines in most religions, asking followers to forgive as God forgives
them.
Now there’s a new, practical take on the subject,
where spirit meets self-interest: Several new books and medical studies conclude
that people who forgive live longer, healthier and happier lives. But an
eye for an eye satisfies the very human desire for fairness. People are
punished in direct proportion to their sins. There is justice in the
world, and so the debate --- fueled by the horrors of Sept. 11, violence in the
Mid-east, corporate betrayals, sexual abuses by priests --- moves from the
pulpit to the pundits. Forgive because it’s good for you and breaks the
cycle of hatred. Don’t forgive because there are some things too terrible,
too evil for any ethical person to pardon. From any entirely pragmatic
point of view, forgiveness is better for you.
In 1998, the Campaign for Forgiveness Research began to apply scientific data to the subject. Everett Worthington, chairman of the psychology department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is executive director of the campaign and author of “Five Steps to Forgiveness: The Art and Science of Forgiving.” Worthington started his career as a clinical psychologist in marriage counseling, where forgiveness was an ongoing issue. In 1995, just a month after finishing a book on the subject his mother was murdered during a robbery. His initial reaction was to kill the person who did this. Instead he made a painful decision to personally test his theories about forgiveness. His model: to eliminate the emotions of “un-forgiveness” for his own mental and physical health.
“From a scientific point of view, un-forgiveness
is a combination of negative emotions, resentment, bitterness, hatred, anger,
hostility and fear,” says Worthington. “In the short run, un-forgiveness
is empowering. In the long run, un-forgiveness will kill you ---
literally.”
His research suggests un-forgiving people have
high levels of cortisol, a hormone that is released from the adrenal glands in
response to stress. Elevated stress hormones are necessary in fight-or-flight
situations, but not healthy on a permanent basis. That leads to, he says, heart
attacks, coronary diseases and strokes, ulcers, colitis and immune system
problems.
In February, Prevention magazine reported the
results of a forgiveness study at Hope College in Holland, Mich.
Seventy-one subjects were measured for heart rate, blood pressure and stress
levels and asked to think about people who had lied, insulted or rejected them.
The test subjects then had a choice: Imagine holding grudges, or forgiving the
offenders.
Forgivers had lower heart rates and blood
pressure, felt calmer and more in control. Holding grudges led to higher
stress and greater feelings of anger and sadness. The mind-body connection
is also at the heart of Stanford University’s Forgiveness Project, a six-year
study directed by Fred Luskin. He worked with people from Northern Ireland
whose family members were killed by sectarian violence. The deaths had occurred
at least two years before – the wounds were deep but not fresh when his subjects
arrived in California.
“They didn’t like the word ‘forgiveness’ when they
first came,” says Luskin. “But when they learned forgiveness was for them and
their healing --- not about or for the offender --- they were more open.”
Over time, the initial desire for vengeance ebbs, and forgiveness becomes more
of a possibility. “Forgiveness does not condone horror,” says Luskin.
“Forgiveness does not mean you have to reconcile with an offender. And
forgiveness does not mean that you forget what happened --- you remember to
protect yourself and loved ones.”
Good for the
soul?
A case can be made that forgiveness lets offenders
off too easily creating a moral universe where forgiving slips into forgetting
and moral laziness passes piety. If nothing is unforgivable, then the
boundaries between good and evil become blurred. Most questions of,
forgiveness stem from personal betrayals by lovers, spouses, parents, children
and friends. Petty arguments slide into lifelong grudges. Even if the
offender admits he’s wrong, it’s hard. The issue becomes complicated
intentionally: Did the person mean to cause, or was it an accident?
And by love: People will often forgive their children anything, but not spouses
or siblings. Then there’s the misunderstood difference between forgiveness and
justice. Even if you forgive, you can still believe that person should go
to jail, get fired or otherwise pay the price of his
transgression.
Should you
forgive?
Jeanne Safer, a psychologist and author of
“Forgiving & Not Forgiving: Why Sometimes It’s Better Not to Forgive”, says
forgiveness, like love, is an emotional state that’s not entirely
voluntary. The problem with all this is that it’s just not possible for
everyone. There is no, one-size-fits-all solutions to crimes of the
heart. There’s so much pressure on people that they must forgive that it
leads to a state I christened ‘false forgiveness.’”
The “forgiveness lobby” has been effective, says
Safer, that there is balancing concept of what she calls “healthy
non-forgiveness.” The argument has been reduced to forgiveness vs. hatred
--- when her research indicates there are many shades of gray. Many people
Safer interviewed did not forgive, felt better that, they hadn’t forgiven, and
were not overwhelmed with rage or bitterness. In fact, they felt
great. “To take a moral stance and ethical choices --- based on real
understanding --- can restore you to health,” she says. “It can be liberating
because you don’t hate yourself for not forgiving.” Most of us cannot
forgive even small heartbreaks, much less massive evil.
Where to begin?
There are typically three stages of trauma and
recovery, says Worthington: Numbness (which typically lasts one to two
weeks), an attempt to make sense of what happened (one to two years), and
finally a desire to move ahead with some form of normal life. “A lot is a
matter of timing,” he says. If you prematurely or too forcefully coerce
someone into trying to forgive, then that can cause people to react negatively
with anger, guilt or depression.”
All about grace
Or perhaps it’s not about formulas. Perhaps it’s
about grace. Steven McDonald is a New York policeman who was shot and
paralyzed 15 years ago. His assailant shot him in the head, in the throat
and then a third time when he was on the ground. His wife was two months
pregnant. What became the focus of their attention was their faith ---
McDonald is a devout Catholic. When his baby son was born, seven months
after the shooting, McDonald says their hearts opened to the “gift” of
forgiveness “to free us from any bitterness and anger.” Forgiving the
offender had very little to do with the shooter and every thing to do with love
for their son.
“I’ve often heard the phrase ‘forgive and forget’,” he says. “You never forgive and forget. The memory of the assault is with you always. But God desires us to forgive – for our own well-being.”
[Source: “Faith & Value” Section of “The
Wichita Eagle”]
SPENTA ARMAITI --- SPENDARMAD
Devotion – Piety – Faith
Ashem shyaothanaish bazaiti armaitish
[Gatha Ushtavaiti 2.6 Ys 44.6]
Armaiti gives grace to
righteousness by her action.
My religion rests on my faith in You, Ahura Mazda,
and my faith gains strength by the devotion I put into my prayers to you.
Let my devotion spread into everything I do in my life, however, important or
trivial, and let all my thoughts, words and deeds be in accord with Your
will. Let me always remember you and place you first in all my good
endeavors.
Unswerving faith, in your goodness and love gives
me peace of mind and peace of heart. It renews my resolve to tread the
path of Asha, and to serve its course with devotion and steadfastness.
Help me, my Lord, to improve and perfect this
reflection through life of faith, piety and devotion and through the Path of
your truth as revealed by our Prophet Zarathushtrta.
Command me, O Ahura Mazda, and I will follow,
order me and I will obey; show me the way and I will tread it. I will live for
you and for your purpose in life with the devotion of Armaiti, and express my
love for you through a life of love and helpfulness to my fellowmen.
[Source: “Teach Me To
Pray—A Second Book of Prayers for Zoroastrians: -- Noshir F.
Vajifdar]
Bai Dosibai Dasturna
[Wife of Dastur Rustomji Mobedji Kumana of Surat]
[1871—1900]
This learned lady was a prominent figure among the
Parsis of Surat in her days, being proficient in the history of religion and
traditions. She was actually consulted even by elderly priests on matters
of faith. She was a descendant of the great Dastur Darab Kumana, the
leader of the Kadimis in Surat. In 1865 Sheth Khurshedji R. Cama lectured
at Surat and this lady had the rare courage to express her views openly at the
meeting!
This unprecedented event created a great
impression on the Parsis present. Even the great Parsi chronicler, Khan Bahdur
Bomanji Behramji Patel, author of Parsi Prakash, complimented her by
saying that she was an authority on matters of ancient history of her
town.
Hearing her fame, Miss Mennant the Oriental savant
had to record in her book, “Anquetil du Perron” about her fine capacity, which
had impressed other European scholars as well. In the portrait shown here
Miss Mennant wrote in her own handwriting: Dosibai descendante de Darab,
ie “Dosibai, the descendant of Darab” [Source: “Parsi Lustre On
Indian Soil”: Vol. I of 1939 by H.D. Darukhanwala]
Fill every day with some kind deed
And you‘ll be truly blessed,
For helping someone who’s in need
Brings peace and
happiness.
And you can always guarantee
Your day’s been made worthwhile
When you take the trouble to lend a hand
And go that extra
mile.
[Helana Socha]
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Published for Informal
Religious Meetings Trust Fund, Karachi