Siddharta by Hermann Hesse - Book Report/Review Example

Siddharta By Hermann Hesse. One must gain experiences himself because wisdom is “inexpressible and incommunicable” remarks Siddharta in the novel. The novel Siddharta is the tale of an Indian’s spiritual journey who seeks out to experience this ultimate wisdom and peace, because he beliefs that no enlightenment can come out of listening to teaching or preaching or sticking to any doctrine by others. Thus the novel shows how the path to enlightenment cannot be conferred to another person because it is deferent for every one and will never be achieved simply by listening to an enlightened one; one has to follow his own inner voice and resort to his own experiences to obtain salvation. The novel can be interpreted from a Buddhist stand point- Siddharta is in pursuit of his innermost essence (Atman); it is made possible only when he denounces his ego, his own selfish identity (Self). When he has got rid of his selfish ego and is moved by universal love, he experiences eternal bliss, happiness and peace (Nirvana). The major theme of the novel is enlightenment. From the start of Siddharta’s journey he seeks salvation. He joints the Samanas (People who live a life of piety, self- denial, free of possessions and desires), visits Buddha, embraces his earthly desires, and finally communes with nature, all in an attempt to obtain Nirvana. His search for his inner life comes to an end finally; he comes to a complete self –realization. In the end, he grasps the wholeness of life, experiencing the sense of fulfillment and wisdom, which come with it. In short the novel is a classical work dealing with the meaning of life. Self-realization is the key word behind siddartha’s enlightenment and his whole life was a pursuit to listen to the voice within him and respond to it positively. As a child when he was living with his father he knew how to recognize the Atman within the depth of his being, undestructable, at one with the universe. Everybody gave him knowledge but he felt that the vessel was incomplete as his heart was not still, as his soul was not at peace. His knowledge couldn’t locate the self, the innermost. He wanted to press towards the Self, towards Atman, but nobody showed the way, nobody knew it- neither his father, nor the teachers and wise men nor the holy songs. His determination to seek Atman was so strong that he remarks: “One must find the source within one’s own self, one must possess it. Every thing else was seeking- a detour, error” (Siddharta, Page No.6). Unable to find an answer to his quest, Siddharta joins the Samanas with his friend Govinda, hoping that an ascetic way of life would make him empty of thrust, desire, dream, pleasure and sorrow and there by let the self-die to experience pure thought and to know the secret of life. He practiced self-denial and meditation and learned many ways of loosing the Self. He defines meditation as “a flight from the self, a temporary escape from the torment of self”. Later he feels that the Samana life will never help him to complete his probe, to attain the state of Nirvana. Thus he leaves the Samanas. His meeting with Buddha, the Illustrious one occurs at this juncture which reinforces his belief that he is supposed to reach his goal alone. It is important to note why he leaves Buddha: “That is why I am going on my way-not to seek another and better doctrine, for I know there is none, but to leave all doctrines and all teachers and to reach my goal alone- or die.” (Siddharta, Page No.28). Thus he decides to listen to the inner voice within him and not to obey any other external command. Later his meeting with kamala teaches him that the world is also beautiful; he feels that he has to leave his former life behind him. He undergoes a lot of inward mental struggles as he understands that his inner voice has become faded and silent: “He only noticed that the bright and clear inward voice, that had once awakened in him and had always guided him in his finest hours, had become silent.” (Siddharta, Page No.65). This understanding prompts him to view his life retrospectively and he feels that he has experienced so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to become a child again and begin anew. He comes to the realization that the reason for the fading of his inner voice was nothing but his self- his small fearful and proud self. The river in the novel acts as a symbol and it teaches him the way to get rid of his self. He listen to the river and the river teaches him “how to listen- to listen with a still heart, with a waiting open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgment, without opinion.” (Siddharta, Page No.87). He understood that the sound of water is nothing but the voice of life, the voice of Being, or perpetual Becoming. He could now understand that all the voices are one and this teaches him of the whole unity of all things. This is evident when he discloses Govinda that the potential Buddha already exist in the sinner and that a stone within the cycle of change can become soil, plant, man or spirit. Siddharta, thus came to enlightenment on his own, is able to advice Govionda not to despise the world: “Love is the most important thing … it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all things with love, admiration and respect.” (Siddharta, Page No.117). The thoughts of Kamala, his son, Vasudeva or Govinda can no longer worry him because he has attained the enlightenment- that every one is to seek his own destiny, his own goals and that no one can teach or preach or advice people to do anything. Thus the novel portrays the growth of Siddharta, the Brahman’s son to maturity and perfection- to the height of Nirvana and enlightenment- because of his incessant quest and blind obedience to his inner voice. Hermaan Hesse presents the character of Govinda to convince his reader that it is more important to listen to and move according to what ones voice, his inner spirits dictates to him rather than blindly following any guru, doctrine or belief. The fact that Govinda fails to achieve the ultimate peace should act as an eye opener to every one who wants to pursue his own goals. Even though Govinda becomes a follower of Buddha, the Illustrious one, he fails to accomplish his dream to achieve Nirvana like Buddha or Siddharta. This is evident in his last meeting with Siddharta when he discloses that he has not yet found peace even though he has been searching for it long. Siddharthas’ reply needs to be examined at this point: “Seeking means to have a goal; but finding means to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal.” (Siddharta, Page No.111). Govinda goes on to ask him whether he had any doctrines, beliefs or knowledge which he upholded, which helped him to live and do right. Siddharta’s long reply convinces the reader of how he accomplished he goal: “I came to distrust doctrines and teachers …but I learned from many teachers …but most of all I have learned from the river and from my predecessor, Vasudeva. He was a simple man. He was not a thinker, but he realized the essential as well as Gotam. He was a holy man, a saint … wisdom is not communicable. The wisdom which a wiseman tries to communicate always sounds foolish.” (Siddharta. Page No.113-114). Siddharta states it clearly that he valued Buddha’s deeds and life more important that his words whereby he hints a possible way for Govinda to pursue his own goals in accordance with his inner voice. Govinda later admits that since the time of Buddha, he has never met a man with a single exception of Siddharta about whom he felt as a holy man. Govinda kisses Siddharta and then he experiences a kind of bliss; he feels that Siddharta’s smile is like that of Buddha’s- he forgets his own self and finds thousands of faces each resembling Siddharta’s. The reader at the end is left under the impression that he would one day achieve Nirvana on his own. The life of Sansara, his worldly life with Kamala the beautiful courtesan was essential for Siddharta’s later conviction and enlightenment. In the initial stage of their relationship Siddharta considers her as a teacher and learns the art of love from her. He earns a lot of wealth, fine dresses and perfumes for her and within no time he understands the futility of all these worldly pleasures. Kamala, during one of their lovemaking, confesses her decision to be a follower of Buddha. After the love making it becomes clear to Siddharta that passion is so closely related to death. That night he dreams that Kamala’s songbird in the golden cage has been dead. He feels that the bird in his own heart is dead. The same night we find Kamala setting free the song bird and she understands that Siddharta has disappeared. This symbolizes that Siddharta is completely free to pursue his inner quest like a free bird. Later in their last meeting she is so happy to know that he has found peace. The river is the strongest symbol used in the novel. It is the symbol of Siddharta’s and Vasudeva’s inner strength. Both of them derive visions, comforts and answers to their questions from the river. In the same way, the river is closely associated with all the major events in Siddharta’s life. He crosses the river after his meeting with Buddha to lead a life of pleasures. He again comes back to the river side after his Sansara. He can listen to his inner voice, the laments of his soul, his inward spirit the best when he is in communion with the river. Vasudeva, the Ferryman, is a strong motivator in Siddharta’s pursuit of eternal bliss. It is he who teaches him to listen to the voice of the river. The instance where the river laughs at him when Siddharta goes in search of his disappeared son is a classical example for their mutual relationship. Thus the river teaches him the lesson that just as Siddharta’s own father allowed him to follow his way, he should also allow his son to experience the life on his own. The novel also underlines the concept of the unity of all things and the notion that life is a repetition of events in a fateful circle. The night just after the river laughed at him, Siddharta sees his own reflection in the water it resembled his father’s and he understands the pain his father had undergone and he feels that life is a comedy, a strange and stupid thing, a repetition of the course of events in a fateful circle. At another instance he identifies Vasudeva with the river and God himself: “That the motionless man was the river himself, that he was God Himself, that he was eternity himself.” (Siddharta, Page No.107). Siddharta listens very close. He hears many voices- voices of pleasure and sorrow, good and evil voice, laughing and lamenting voices etc. Later he could no longer distinguish the voices: “… All of them together was the world. All of them together was the stream of events, the music of life” (Siddharta, Page No.109). When he did not bind his soul to any one particular voice and absorb it in his self, he heard them all, the whole, the unity and he feels that the great sound was a single word- Om-perfection. He felt that all his worries and wounds were healed and that his self had merged in to unity. Thus, the novel Siddhartha is the story of an ordinary man who becomes an enlightened saint by perusing his inner voice. The word Siddharta means ‘He who has attained his goals’ or ‘He who is victorious.’ It is important to not that the Buddhas name before his renunciation was ‘ Price Siddhrta’ The novel resembles the story of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho where the hero goes in search of his dreams, comes across a lot of obstacles and tribulations and finally makes his dream come true. But there is an essential difference between the ways followed by Siddhartha and Buddha to reach the state of enlightenment, the envious state of Nirvana, the eternal bliss. For Buddha, the desire is the root of all suffering and thus desire must be crushed to achieve Nirvana. He despised the world because he found that basically all physical reality is Maya (Illusion). But Siddhartha believed that the physical world is real and that one should love every thing in the world and view every thing as a single unity. For any one who wants to the in search of his inner spiritual urges, for any individual like Govinda who tells “I can see, my friend, that you have found peace. I realize I have not found it…Give me some thing to help me on my way” (Siddharta, Page No.119), Siddharta’s answer is a silent smile which ensures the contender that he has to follow his own inner voice, rather than resort to any doctrine, advice or belief. Work Cited. Hesse, Hermann. 2006. Siddhartha. Ed. Hila Rosner. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. Read More