Yet, the memory of the Great Kuru and the Persian Achaemenids, an integral part of the glorious history of ancient Iran, not only survives but thrives in popular oral tradition of modern Iranians.
The Achaemenid Empire was by no means an ideal political government and the Great Kuru and the Great Achaemenid Kings were above all, human. What set them apart from all other contemporary powers, was their ability to grasp the global nature and the vast dimensions of their empire and their insight that by the virtue of Mazdean freedom of choice, people left to their own gods, customs and habits, were better subjects of the empire. They knew a lasting powerful empire could not be forged by force alone. Unlike the Assyrians and Babylonians before them and Hellenes, Romans, Arabs, and all the rest who came after them, the Persians never attempted to force their subjects to forsake the gods of their ancestors and live the 'Persian way of life'.
If past history truly sheds lights on future, we will do well to remember that what is now is just a ripple on the surface of a vast ancient ocean... under the skin of the water, the ancient Iranian soul burns like a sacred fire that never dies...
"By the grace of the ancient love god, his hot passion for her had remained like a burning fire under the sacred ocean, never doused by the waves ebbing and flowing and rolling on the watery surface..."
Roxana Romance: Moon and the Peacock
Kuru called once and the Persians gathered and rose to greatness.
Will they gather again, if they heard Kuru calling them once more?
