SIDDHARTHA

By Herman Hesse
Group 2
Sourav Dungdung- PGP36394
Yash Rathi- PGP37055
Dhruvin Chheda- PGP37126
Devashish Raghav- PGP37185
Prachi Khandelwal- PGP37252
Himali Anand- PGP37350
Latika Pavaskar- PGP37420
Himani Gangania- PGP37465
Brief Narrative
Siddhartha, the novel by Herman Hesse, which revolves around the
life of Siddhartha and covers his spiritual journey, showcases his
transitions in stages of his life, from being an innocent boy to a man
who attained the meaning of enlightenment. His journey highlights:

Quest for understanding the meaning of enlightenment

● Being a Son
● Becoming a Samana
● Meeting with Gotama
● Understanding the meaning of enlightenment
Delving into the worldly pleasures
● Meeting with Kamala
● An encounter with Kamaswami
● Struggle to gain the love of his son
Reawakening
● Meeting with Vasudeva
● Learnings from the river
● Encounter with Govinda
Nobel prize in Literature in 1946 |
Notable works - Siddhartha, Demian, Steppenwolf,
Beneath the Wheel, Narcissus and Goldmund

Main theme of works - Individual’s efforts to

break out of the established modes of
civilization to find an essential spirit and identity

Themes of extroversion and introversion,

idealism, duality of human nature -
contemplative and active life

Influenced by Buddha, Friedrich Nietzsche,

Fyodor Dostoevsky

About Herman Hesse

 Themes
A deep dive into the major themes in the book
 Compassion
Meaning
Feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune,
accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering

Hindi Interpretation
The word for compassion in Hindi is Samvedana, the key being ‘Sam’, which
means ‘same’. Thus, the compassionate feels the pain quite similarly as his
sufferer out of his sympathy for the latter.

Govinda
Siddhartha understands his friend Govinda’s quest for Nirvana

Father & Son

His own son leaves him for the life of comfort he is used to, Siddhartha feels
compassion for his father, whom he had left too

He refuses to discipline and punish his spoilt son when faced with disrespect, all
out of compassion.
 Passion
Meaning
Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate; a strong
affection or enthusiasm for an object, concept

Philosophical Interpretation
Any state of mind in which it is affected by something external, such as
perception, desire etc, as contrasted with action; feelings desires or
emotions, as contrasted with reason

Life as Samana and later

Siddhartha decides to leave his home and family to become a Samana
Urge to leave his life as a Samana to join the other side of the world

City Life
Goes to Kamala, the courtesan and to Kamaswami, so he can obtain the
means to survive in that world
 Beliefs
Meaning
Confidence in something, irrespective of the potential susceptibility to rigorous
proof. It is thus a psychological state in which one holds a premise to be true.

Knowledge vs Wisdom
Siddhartha’s beliefs is reflected in his rejection of teachings in the form of ideas,
words, thoughts and concepts. ‘Knowledge is communicable. Wisdom is not.’

Gautam Buddha
challenges Gautam Buddha, whom he had met, with words: One cannot do
otherwise, there is no other method for those who teach.

Renounces everything
True to his beliefs, he renounces everything to become an ascetic, goes out into
the world when he feels disillusioned, and again rejects everything he had
achieved in search for answers to his growing discontentment.
 Love
Meaning
Love has multiple connotations in life and in the book. It can be familial, platonic,
spiritual, physical, or a combination of them

Familial
Siddhartha experiences familial love for his family that he abandoned for his
quest of enlightenment

Spiritual and Physical

His love for Kamala is not only spiritual but also physical involving
sensuousness and intimacy

Material and Loneliness

He finds love for material aspects initially when he learns the tricks of trade from
Kamaswami but then acts upon the advice of Vasudeva and opts for the love of
loneliness by living alone near the river

Different Aspects
This makes Siddhartha realise that there our multiple forms and lessons to learn
from love but it is the most important force in the world
 Enlightenment
Meaning
The process of gaining knowledge and understanding something or making
somebody understand something clearly and being the final stage of peace
where you no longer feel desire

Father
Gautam’s father was in search for enlightenment along with others and achieved
it through his religion of Brahmanism and teachings of his forefather

Govinda
Govinda follows his teachers and their lessons to achieve enlightenment

Siddhartha
Gotama achieved enlightenment from a simple ferryman, Vasudeva. He
believes that following someone and religion cant help you reach the heighest
level of enlightenment
Meaning
There are multiple paths to achieve enlightenment but not every path helps you reach the
celestial heights
Contrasting protagonists with
another protagonists
Siddhartha - Vishwamitra

King who retired to forest to practice penance

Breaks meditation lured by Menaka

Falls in love with Menaka and has a child –

Shakuntala

Abandons Menaka and Shakuntala travels to

south of Godavari to resume austerities
Kamala - Menaka

Most mesmerising apsara

Falls in love with Vishwamitra gives birth to

Shakuntala

Separated from Vishwamitra

Gautama & Vasudeva -
Oogway

Travelled around the world on a journey of

discovery

Calm - never showed any signs of fury,

impatience, or outrage

Humble, passive, and compassionate

Incredibly wise, rational, kind and content

Beloved and respected by all

Govinda - Mike Ross

Knowledgeable

Regards Harvey as a brother and best friend

Fiercely loyal to Harvey

Dependency in a professional and emotional

manner on Harvey

Mike leaves Harvey to follow his own path

however they share an unbreakable bond
Son - Sanju

Spoilt brat

Lost mother at an early age

Causes immense mental trauma to father; father

continues to believe in him and provide
necessary support

Fathers fills the void created by the death of his

mother
Comparison of protagonist
with a contemporary
modern leader
 Yayoi Kusama Keeping a bird caged
won’t make its wings disappear
The princess of polka dots

● Followed her own path despite family constraints

● Went to NYC to explore art
● Gained reputation in visual art work
● Tried hands in literature
● Uses red dot as representation of her belonging
“Japan”

Self-obliteration: Giving up identity, abolishing uniqueness,

& becoming one with the universe; her ideology is similar
to the Buddhist striving for ego death,the ability to let go of
an ego and an identity

Explorer | Revolutionary | Seeker | Fearless

https://youtu.be/ibHY-CLNJyU
 Swami Vivekananda
Story:
Swami Vivekananda was a social reformer who fought
against many social evils which were plaguing the Indian
society during the 19th and 20th century. For this purpose, he
advocated a kind of Hinduism which doesn’t discriminate on
the basis of gender or caste but puts forth ideas on how to
lead a meaningful life

Importance of self introspection

Talk to yourself once in a day, otherwise you may
miss meeting an intelligent person in this world

Be the best version of yourself

Learn Everything that is Good from Others, but bring it in,
and in your own way absorb it; do not become others

Selfless
The secret of karma yoga which is to perform actions without Strength is life, weakness is death.
any fruitive desires is taught by Lord Krishna in the Expansion is life, contraction is death.
Bhagavad-Gita. Love is life, hatred is death
Relevance of Theme in
Modern Time
Passion
A modern day Siddhartha
Standing up to his father to become a Samana
We all have experienced this. We have stood upto parents to follow a
passion. Be it a hobby, a new venture, MBA or a travel.

From an ascetic to a life of hedonism to a ferryman

Passions can change or it can take time to know your true passion. In our
lives, we explore many things, calling a new path a new passion, only to
realize that this is not our true calling

“in all that searching, you don’t find the time for finding”
Your true passion can be right in front of your eyes without you realizing it.
Listen to your inner calling, your “OM”, your bird in the chest.
Compassion
A modern day Vasudeva
Understanding the state of Siddhartha & listening to him
The importance of being a good listener is highlighted in the book in the
best possible way. A simple act of listening can make you to feel one’s
sorrow and help alleviate his or her pain.

Always helping
Just like Vasudeva helped Siddhartha in making the raft so he could chase
young Siddharth, it is important to help your dear ones no matter even if
you know the effort can go in vain.

No judgements
It is easier to judge than to listen to someone without a bias. As Vasudeva
is symbolic of a god or a deity, that allows for a one way conversation
which assures the other person of not being judged
 Beliefs
A modern day Govinda
Bizzare person, bizzare thoughts, foolish teachings, a holy man
Beliefs are necessary in society to make sense of things not logically understood.

Beliefs can be transferred but not wisdom

Each one of us carries the beliefs of their parents referred to as “Sanskaras”.
However, each one of thus have to go through the life on our own which makes us
believe in them more, challenge them or modify them

A difference between knowing and learning

Knowing something is easy. It can be done by just reading or listening. To learn
something, experience is important
 Conclusion

Story of a thought and how it Story of experiences & their

develops importance

Journey of a man in all the Story of love &

phases acceptance

What is the book about?

Thank You