Topic: Siddhartha

Abdul Khalique
 Introduction
• Siddhartha written by Hermann Hesse in 1922 then it was
published in U.S A 1951
• Its small novel but in literature it is also called as An Indian
Poem.
• The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in Sanskrit
language, siddha (achieved) + artha (what was searched for),
which together means "he who has found meaning (of
existence)" or "he who has attained his goals".
 Summary

• Siddhartha grows up in a prosperous Brahman family. He’s well-

loved, but unhappy despite his popularity.
• He is spiritually dissatisfied and believes the elders in his community
have nothing more to teach him.
• Siddhartha decides to leave his home in the hope of gaining
spiritual illumination by becoming wandering beggar of the
Śamaṇa.
• Siddhartha join the Samanas, who are a group of wandering.
• His best friend, Govinda, accompanies him, and the two men spend
three years with the Samanas learning how to withstand pain and
hunger in an effort to flee the body’s limitations.

• fasting and suffering, became homeless and baggers.

• Siddhartha sometimes doubts whether they are really approaching any
higher knowledge. Then, one day, a rumor reaches them that the
Sublime Buddha, Gautama, is among them. Siddhartha is dubious of
teaching, but agrees to hear the Buddha’s sermon, so the pair journey
with many others to Gautama’s grove.
• Here, they spot the man himself, impeccably calm and with a perfect
smile. They know he has reached enlightenment. Govinda decides to
take refuge in the teaching.
• Despite Govinda’s urgings and despite recognizing Gotama as the
Holiest Man Ever, Siddhartha opts not to follow Gotama.
• The friends part ways now Siddhartha goes into the forest and has an
awakening, seeing all the river’s colors as if for the first time.
• Siddhartha travels to a nearby town where he is entranced by the
beauty of a well-known courtesan named Kamala. He offers himself to
her as a student in the art of love, but is gently rebuffed. Kamala says
he needs money, clothes, and shoes.
• Siddhartha begins working for a wealthy merchant named
Kamaswami and becomes Kamala’s lover.
• In current life He develops anxiety, self-hatred, and a high-stakes
gambling habit. One morning, overwhelmed by his own depression
and troubling dreams, Siddhartha walks out of his fancy home and
never returns.
• After considering suicide. Siddhartha, wishing to die, edges close to
the river. But instead, the word ‘om’ comes to him from the river, and
he falls into a deep sleep.
• When he wakes, there is a samana waiting with him, whom he
recognizes as Govinda, his childhood friend. He tries to explain to
Govinda that he has become many different people, but he is still
searching.
• Siddhartha finds a ferryman and asks to become his student.
• The ferryman, named Vasudeva, accepts Siddhartha as his companion
and together the two men listen to the river.
• With the river as a spiritual guide, Siddhartha gradually grows wiser
and wiser.
• He advises that Siddhartha listens to the river as he does. Siddhartha
begins to find enlightening visions and voices in the water
• After allowing his son (by Kamala) to leave the river and follow his
own path, Siddhartha achieves enlightenment.
• One day, it is rumored that Gautama is dying.
• Kamala, now a pilgrim too, comes towards the river with her son,
young Siddhartha.
• The boy is sulky and wishes to rest, and it is then that a black snake bites the
resting Kamala. Vasudeva hears the cries and brings her to the hut and she sees
Siddhartha. Kamala dies, and now Siddhartha must be guardian to his son.
• But young Siddhartha doesn’t know his father and is used to very rich things in
town, not the simple life of a ferryman.
• He makes life very hard for Siddhartha. Vasudeva, seeing how painfully
Siddhartha loves his son, advises that he should let the boy go to the town,
because he does not belong here. Siddhartha can’t face letting him go, but soon he
has little choice, the boy runs away and it is obvious that he doesn’t want the
ferrymen to follow him.
• Now that Siddhartha can really listen to the river too, Vasudeva is ready to
go ‘into the oneness’, and he leaves the river with Siddhartha and
disappears into the forest.
• In the town, the monks of Gautama live in Kamala’s old grove, and
Govinda hears about a wise ferryman. He still seeks enlightenment and
goes to the river. He doesn’t recognize Siddhartha when he sees him, and
asks for a taste of the ferryman’s wisdom.
• Siddhartha says he has changed many times, that he was once that sleeper
by the river that Govinda protected, but that despite change, everything is
part of a whole, always in the present moment.
• He then helps Govinda reach enlightenment.
 Themes
• The Search for Enlightenment
• The story of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is a story of love , learning and the
search of happiness for inner self.
• The main character Siddhartha has learned all that is needed from the holy books
and his teachers but believes none has really helped him reach the enlightment he
truly searches for.
• As for that Siddhartha undergoes many lessons of life from the people he
encounters on his adventure for the search of enlightenment. Such as
 People such as a beautiful courtesan who teaches him about love
 a rich merchant who teaches him about money and the dark side of life, a rich
merchant who teaches him about money and the dark side of life.
 The river , who shows him how all life is connected.
 The Quest for
Peace
• Siddhartha left everything every comfort to find the inner peace.
• Siddhartha’s father, the Brahmin, is on his quest to find peace by
following the path of his forefathers.
• Buddha had already found their peace and Siddhartha is of course also
searching for peace (Buddhists follow the path of self-denial or
deprivation to get self-control through the Samanas)
• His friend also left home with him to find the peace and follows his
teachers to achieve it.
• Shamans also were finding the peace by being beggars.
• Ferryman was very wise and had found peace by understanding the
river.
 Love
• The protagonist, Siddhartha experiences this love in two ways.
• he first is familial love that he abandons for his quest for
enlightenment. Second one is his love with Kamala which is not
only spiritual but also physical.
• There are two other aspects of the theme of love. One is love
with the material aspect of the world and the second is the love
for loneliness.
• In the first aspect, he falls in the hands of merchant from who
Siddhartha learns the tricks of the trade. This is material.
• In the second aspect, he acts upon the advice of Vasudeva and
opts for the life of living near the river and hearing its voice.
Search for Satisfaction

• Search for satisfaction or contentment is seen in Siddhartha at

the beginning of the novel. He feels dissatisfied with his life
despite having a good fortune, born in a wealthy family and to
kind parents.
• He left home to find inner satisfaction
• e goes to see life in different ways and remains dissatisfied.
• He wonders how Buddha and Vasudeva have found satisfaction
in their lives so the thirst of his soul for the satisfaction was
increased by seeing them.