________________ Shrimad Rajchandra Letter 530 125 Question 24 Can the illiterate attain liberation by the path of devotion? Answer: Devotion leads to knowledge. Knowledge leads to liberation. Just because someone is illiterate in terms of academic studies does not mean they cannot attain the path of devotion. Every soul's fundamental nature is consciousness. By the strength of devotion, knowledge becomes sublime. Such sublime knowledge becomes the cause for liberation. Without the attainment of complete knowledge, I do not believe one can attain complete liberation. There does not seem to be any rule which says that those who are not literate cannot attain liberation or that literacy is a cause for liberation. Question 25 (1) Can the incarnations of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama be considered as true? If so, then what were they? Were they indeed incarnations of The Almighty or perhaps a small part of Him? (2) Can one attain liberation by worshipping them? Answer: (1) Both were great souls indeed, of that I have no doubt. As they were both souls, they can be considered to be God himself. If they had indeed destroyed all their bondages, then there is no harm in believing that they attained liberation. That someone can be a part of the Almighty seems implausible to me. There are several reasons for refuting this possibility. By considering an individual soul to be a part of God, then it implies that bondage and liberation are all irrelevant and God himself is the cause of ignorance. He loses his glory and becomes ordinary soul.
