There are some genuine well-wishers of the community who advise a large number of youngsters to learn the Avestan language. Many of these youngsters are deeply involved in one secular field or the other. Quite a few of them lack the poise of a religious scholar. In case the well-wishers think that this is a "personal opinion,” let us cite an example:
A scholar residing in one of our baugs prepared some posters saying Avesta will be taught free to youngsters living in the baug. The scholar took those posters and nailed the same to a few trees in the baug. Initially around 11 youngsters came to study under the scholar, but when they came to know that they had to learn grammar — a method entirely unacceptable to them — they abandoned the idea of studying Avesta.
For these youngsters from the secular field, it was well nigh impossible to separate objective description from subjective impressions. Besides, some of them had cultivated the "art” of dressing Iranian history and attempted to arrive at social perfectibility via counter — traditional reasoning.
Such youngsters are ill-fitted for quoting, translating, and more importantly, interpreting a sacred text. Unless, of course, like Martin Luther (1483-1546) and John Calvin (1504-64) one is prepared to leave the interpretation of the Bible to individual consciousness. But linguistic knowledge per se does not help an individual to understand a doctrinal text.
Lest the crux of the matter remain even slightly obscure, the following may further illuminate: All those who know Hebrew and Greek may not understand the text of the Bible. An Arab born and brought up in the United Arab Emirates is at ease while communicating in Arabic. But just this fact does not enable him to tackle doctrinal matters.
A friend from Karnataka informs about a small place called Muttu where a school boy, a teacher, a petty trader, a hawker, in short, everybody can communicate in Sanskrit, but this does not mean that everybody can tackle the Vedas and the Upanishads.
The well-wishers make us look at the present position through rose tinted spectacles, but ultimately, such an exercise may prove to be disastrous.
FARIBOURZ NARIMAN