Dear Sister Rosemary,

I guess that you have found the answer yourself...but, I'd like to add the following:

Quotes:

"But, it is very difficult to recognize him (Thakur). He has hidden himself behind so many coverings. He was poor, almost illiterate and then a priest. Who is capable of recognizing him under so many coverings?"

FROM: M., The Apostle: Vol. 9 - Chap. 7

"On the one hand, there is a rustic, almost illiterate brahmin. And on the other, there is a worldwide religious movement in his name. Even the learned of the world have taken shelter under him. It proves what he was. If the movement had been man made it could not have spread so far."

FROM: M., The Apostle: Vol. 9 - Chap. 13

And yet, in the following quote he eliminates the word, 'almost':

M. (to the young man) — "A tree is known by its fruits. Thus one can understand Thakur by seeing his ‘fruits’. What is that fruit? Just see what great things have happened in a short time in the world on his account. Here was an illiterate brahmin priest; and see, the great men of the world are showing such reverence to his words. Max Muller wrote his life. This alone makes us understand who he was - an avatara."

FROM: M., The Apostle: Vol. 10 - Chap. 9

Mahendranath Gupta (M} was the headmaster of Vidyasagar's High School in Calcutta; which implies that he had a high standard of literacy....:)