Vivekananda Archive
5

Epistles, Interviews, Notes from Lectures and Discourses, Questions and Answers

85 Chapters · 98,106 words

Volume 5 of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda — Epistles, Interviews, Notes from Lectures and Discourses, Questions and Answers.

Historical Context

Volume 5 contains the first series of Vivekananda's epistles — personal letters written to disciples, friends, and fellow monks between 1889 and 1902 — offering an intimate window into his private thoughts, struggles, and spiritual guidance. It also includes interviews, notes from lectures, and recorded conversations and dialogues that capture his spontaneous, unscripted teaching style.

Table of Contents

1

Note

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
2

IX Sharat

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
3

X Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 4 min read
4

XI Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 3 min read
5

XII Sister

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 2 min read
6

XIII Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 5 min read
7

XIV Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 2 min read
8

XV Kidi

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
9

XVI Sister

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
10

XVII Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
11

XVIII Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 2 min read
12

I Fakir

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
13

XIX Vehemia

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
14

XX Sister

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
15

XXI Blessed and Beloved

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 3 min read
16

XXII Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 3 min read
17

XXIII Kidi

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
18

XXIV Blessed and Beloved

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
19

XXV Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 4 min read
20

XXVI Dharmapala

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
21

XXVII Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 4 min read
22

XXVIII Mrs. Bull

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 1 min read
23

II Panditji Maharaj

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 2 min read
24

XXIX G. G.

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 4 min read
25

Miracles

Interviews

conversation AR 2 min read
26

An Indian Yogi In London

Interviews

conversation AR 4 min read
27

India's Mission

Interviews

conversation AR 7 min read
28

India And England

Interviews

conversation AR 9 min read
29

Indian Missionary's Mission To England

Interviews

conversation AR 3 min read
30

With The Swami Vivekananda At Madura

Interviews

conversation AR 7 min read
31

The Abroad And The Problems At Home

Interviews

conversation AR 11 min read
32

The Missionary Work Of The First Hindu Sannyasin To The West And His Plan Of Regeneration Of India

Interviews

conversation AR 10 min read
33

Reawakening Of Hinduism On A National Basis

Interviews

conversation AR 3 min read
34

III Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 8 min read
35

On Indian Women--Their Past, Present And Future

Interviews

conversation AR 5 min read
36

On The Bounds Of Hinduism

Interviews

conversation AR 3 min read
37

On Karma-Yoga

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 5 min read
38

On Fanaticism

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 4 min read
39

Work is Worship

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 2 min read
40

Work Without Motive

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 4 min read
41

Sadhanas or Preparations for Higher Life

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 8 min read
42

The Cosmos and The Self

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 3 min read
43

Who is A Real Guru?

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
44

On Art

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
45

IV Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 12 min read
46

On Language

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
47

The Sannyasin

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
48

The Sannyasin and The Householder

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 2 min read
49

The Evils of Adhikarivada

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 3 min read
50

On Bhakti-Yoga

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 6 min read
51

Ishvara and Brahman

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
52

On Jnana-Yoga

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 8 min read
53

The Cause of Illusion

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 2 min read
54

Evolution

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 3 min read
55

Buddhism and Vedanta

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 3 min read
56

V Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 7 min read
57

On The Vedanta Philosophy

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 7 min read
58

Law and Freedom

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 7 min read
59

The Goal and Methods of Realisation

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
60

World-Wide Unity

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
61

The aim of Raja-Yoga

Notes from Lectures and Discourses

lecture AR 1 min read
62

I Discussion at The Graduate Philosophical Society of Harvard University

Questions and Answers

lecture AR 18 min read
63

II At The Twentieth Century Club of Boston

Questions and Answers

lecture AR 1 min read
64

III At The Brooklyn Ethical Society, Brooklyn

Questions and Answers

lecture AR 3 min read
65

IV Selections from The Math Diary

Questions and Answers

lecture AR 6 min read
66

V Yoga, Vairagya, Tapasya, Love

Questions and Answers

lecture AR 1 min read
67

VI Haripada

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 3 min read
68

VI In Answer to Nivedita

Questions and Answers

lecture AR 2 min read
69

VII Guru, Avatara, Yoga, Japa, Seva

Questions and Answers

lecture AR 4 min read
70

I Shri Surendra Nath Das Gupta

Conversations and Dialogues

conversation AR 4 min read
71

II - V Shri Surendra Nath Sen

Conversations and Dialogues

conversation AR 22 min read
72

VI - X Shri Priya Nath Sinha

Conversations and Dialogues

conversation AR 38 min read
73

XI - XV From the Diary of a Disciple, Shri Sarat Chandra Chakravarty

Conversations and Dialogues

conversation AR 34 min read
74

Sayings and Utterances

Sayings and Utterances

lecture AR 17 min read
75

Reason, Faith and Love

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 4 min read
76

Six Sanskrit Mottoes

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 1 min read
77

The Message of Divine Wisdom

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 7 min read
78

VII Friends

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 4 min read
79

The Belur Math: An Appeal

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 1 min read
80

The Advaita Ashrama, Himalayas

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 1 min read
81

The Ramakrishna Home of Service, Varanasi: An appeal

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 2 min read
82

Who Knows how Mother Plays!

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 1 min read
83

To The Fourth of July

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 3 min read
84

The East and The West

Writings: Prose and Poems

poem AR 1 min read
85

VIII Alasinga

Epistles - First Series

letter AR 3 min read

Key Quotes from This Volume

“The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.”

“Have faith in yourselves, great convictions are the mothers of great deeds.”

“Let the mind be cheerful but calm. Never let it run into excesses, because every excess will be followed by a reaction.”

85

Chapters

98,106

words

392

min read

7

Sections