Siddhartha by Hermanne Hesse

SIDDHARTHA derives its name from the two Sanskrit words of "SIDDHA" which means to achieve and "ARTHA" which means meaning and is also a synonym for money or wealth and this is exactly what the novel is all about. It is all about an individual's search for the meaning of life which may lie in spirituality or in wealth. Published in 1922 in German and translated in English in the 1950's, the book is the most popular book of Nobel Prize winning author Hermann Hesse and is regarded as the most read Western book on India and its philosophy. The book gained huge popularity in the 1960's with the "hippie culture" as it was seen as a part of counterculture movement.The book can be said to be an offshoot of the psychoanalytic theory that had exploded in the European literature of early twentieth century.

The story is based on a boy named Siddhartha who is born into a Brahman family.He is a contemporary of Gautama Buddha .Hermann Hesse being highly influenced by the Indian philosophy of life has written this book partially on his experiences. He has either intentionally or unintentionally divided the life of Siddhartha into the four ashramas of Indian life(Brahmacharya,Grihashtha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa) by which he maybe trying to say that Siddhartha is just a normal man who is not satisfied with the life he has and wants much more out of life than what he is getting .

Siddhartha lives in a village with his family and is greatly admired by the people for his intellect and his inquisitive mind and also for his looks by the girls of the village. He debates with the village elders over the essence and meaning of life. He is constantly followed by his friend Govinda who sees him as his guide. But Siddhartha at a very young age is dissatisfied with the knowledge of the Brahmins. Quoting Hesse"...they had already poured the sum total of their knowledge into his waiting vessel; and the vessel was not full, his intellect was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still" He felt that the Brahmans performed the same exercises daily and have been doing so for generations without adding any meaning to their life. The same was his experience withe Samanas. He initially felt that Samanas would lead him to true knowledge but after years of meditation, fasting and bearing hardships, he finally sees himself at the same place as at the starting of his journey.
He then comes to know about a man named Gotama who is known to have attained enlightenment but he is in doubts whether any teacher can answer his doubts or help him in his quest for knowledge but visits him. He on seeing Goatama immediately identifies him with the calmness and serenity in his attitude and is the only one to do so. "Every finger of his hand spoke of peace, spoke of completeness, sought nothing, imitated nothing, reflected a continuos quiet, an fading light, an invulnerable peace"Siddhartha sees the difference in Buddha, the completeness in him, the feeling of neither happiness nor sadness but of content. But Siddhartha refuses to be his disciple feeling that he would not be able to reach nirvana on Buddha's path but would have to find a path of his own.
IN the next stage of his life, he is enthralled by the beauty of the world which he earlier thought of as 'MAYA' and marks the beginning of his 'Grihastha' life. On the first day, in his dreams he suckles the bosom of a women which symbolizes his re-birth as a man.He left all his teachings of Vedas and all the practices of Brahmans and started his search for the secret of life. He got attracted to a courtesan named Kamala and found a job. He got very rich and was regular on his love lessons with Kamala.Greed, lust , liquor overtook his pure soul and he started living an ordinary life. As he noticed that he is aging and realized his mortality he leaves the town.This marks the 'Vanaprastha' life.Then he joins the ferryman in his room by the river. But his son does not like this lifestyle and decides to leave. Siddhartha was always in search of true knowledge so that he could attain peace in his life but realizes peace does not rely on knowledge, Nirvana does not rely on knowledge but it is Wisdom that leads to Nirvana. This wisdom he attains with the help of the ferryman and the river. The Wisdom to be content with what you have and to find peace and harmony in your life ,to forget all your problems and rise above your wordly pleasures. It is this wisdom that cannot be communicated by a person or taught by a teacher though knowledge can. It is your wisdom which guides your knowledge and makes its meaningful.So,does he finally achieve his aim and he becomes a 'Sanyasi'.

The book(or, I guess the translation) is written in a very simple but beautiful language like "The Brahman was silent so long that the stars passed across the small window and changed their design before the silence in the room was finally broken". His structure of sentence has been very simple throughout the novel.He may be trying to give a hint to the fact that true meaning in its simplicities. The novel has some beautiful lines and creates picturesque images at the end. Slower, he walked along in his thoughts and asked himself: “But what is this, what you have sought to learn from teachings and from teachers, and what they, who have taught you much, were still unable to teach you?” And he found: “It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self, I wanted to free myself from, which I sought to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it, could only deceive it, could only flee from it, only hide from it. Truly, no thing in this world has kept my thoughts thus busy, as this my very own self, this mystery of me being alive, of me being one and being separated and isolated from all others, of me being Siddhartha! And there is no thing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”

The novel ,being a bit philosophical may not interest one and all but once you start reading you should enjoy it .It is about a 150 page novel making it enjoyable throughout. It is a nice enjoyable read and leaves an impact on you.Though the book revolves around the basic Hindu and Buddhist philosophies of body and soul, 'Maya(worldly pleasures) and the word "OM" but the author never goes into a detailed discussion of these subjects. As it was written mainly for Western audience, Hesse has not gone into factual details about the religion. He rather keeps it simple and enjoyable making it a light read.