Sherlock Holmes and Vijnana Vedanta: The hidden spiritualist of 221B Baker street

Chatterjee, Arup K. (2022) Sherlock Holmes and Vijnana Vedanta: The hidden spiritualist of 221B Baker street. International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society, 12 (1). pp. 171-184. ISSN 21548633

[thumbnail of sherlock holmes and vijnanavedanta.pdf] Text
sherlock holmes and vijnanavedanta.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (431kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Critics of Victorian detective fiction have hinted at alternate careers for Sherlock Holmes—that is, scientist and lawyer—almost entirely overlooking the spiritual side to the detective. Working within the hermeneutics of nondual Vedanta and the Indian monk Sri Ramakrishna’s philosophy, this article reexamines Holmes as a calm and unfettered yogi who descends from the roof of the Pondicherry Lodge to solve the case of the Great Agra Treasure and is later resurrected from his supposed death at Reichenbach Falls to become the Man on the Tor, overlooking the ancient mysteries of Dartmoor. The Holmesian world is scattered with disguised Vedantic variables. Drawing a scope of compatibility between Holmes (and the science of deduction) and Sri Ramakrishna (and Vijnana Vedanta), this article argues that Holmesian methods reflect yogic strategies that make his science amenable to a spiritual hermeneutics without religion

Item Type: Article
Keywords: Arthur Conan Doyle | Ramakrishna | Sankaracharya | Sherlock Holmes | Vijnana Vedanta
Subjects: Social Sciences and humanities > Arts and Humanities > Literature and Literary Theory
JGU School/Centre: Jindal Global Law School
Depositing User: Amees Mohammad
Date Deposited: 14 Jun 2022 11:37
Last Modified: 14 Jun 2022 11:38
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.18848/2154-8633/CGP/v12i01/171-...
URI: https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/3416

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item