In his article "Religiously relevant” (Parsiana, August 7-20, 2023) reader Yezdyiar Kaoosji raises an issue that has been facing the community for a long time: "We have no clue about the meaning of what priests utter.”
This is, however, only to be expected as knowledge of Avesta had been lost until it was re-discovered by European savants. Moreover, priests had no choice but to memorize the Avesta in order to preserve it. The art of writing was not known to them; even the Achemenian rulers depended on the Aramaic script for communication. The priests have rendered yeoman service by preserving the Avesta which enabled European linguists to explore its meaning and grammar.
It is hard to expect priests to study Avesta Pahlavi, especially when the main seminary, the M. F. Cama Athornan Institute, has long been closed. The only other madressa remaining is the Dadar Athornan Institute. This needs all the support we can offer as the very survival of our heritage and religion depends on it.
I vividly remember the only Hindu teacher at the Cama Institute telling us that its founder’s ardent wish was to see learned priests like Dastur Maneckji Dhalla graduating from the Institute. If I recall right, the Institute finally closed down because it stopped providing a secular education up to the school leaving level so that students, unqualified to pursue higher education, had perforce to take up mobedi. How then can laypersons like Kaoosji or even reader Aban Mukherji (see "The bedrock of my faith,” Parsiana, August 7-20, 2023) expect priests to know the meaning of prayers and all that the priesthood entails?
In North America, alumni of the Cama Institute, along with other priests, have kept the torch of the religion burning. But these priests are now aging. Instead of using the slogan "No priests, no religion,” we must recognize the importance of madressas for religious survival and revive the Cama Athornan Institute to ensure the steady flow of well-trained priests. If this is not done, our progeny will have to resolve more issues than those posed by Kaoosji and Mukherji. The new generation lacks the cultural conditioning we had. We must find out what they need to know from us and assist them. Meantime, there are many publications available which they can use, along with sundry treatises on avesta.org by various authors.
Dr KERSEY H. ANTIA
Chicago, USA