Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

While the journey of Siddhartha is set around 7th to 5th Century B.C. it finds an uncanny echo in our lifestyle. Moreover I was mystified as to how my own experiences as a child, an adolescent and now as a young adult found reflections in this enlightening book.

‘Siddhartha’ is a combination word formed by the combination of Siddha (adept, master) and Artha (meaning), signifying ‘someone who has deciphered the meaning of existence’. Siddhartha is a son of a Brahman who yearned to learn more than just verses and perform sacred ablutions. At a very young age he had perfected reciting praises of God and won the respect of everyone around him. Everyone expected him to be as successful as his father more so his father himself. However Siddhartha feels that did God make humans to sing his praise and if one was clean why was it that one should wash off his sins. He questioned if the Brahmans were actually serving the purpose they ought to. Then one day while meditating with his friend Govinda he decides to follow the path of renunciation he tells him thet he would become a Samana. He seeks his father’s permission permission for this.

This is when he faces the first major roadblock in his quest for enlightenment. Though Siddhartha’s  father is a learned Brahman he is after all a father. He had nurtured his son and affectionately always saw him as his successor. He could not imagine his life without his son and does not permit Siddhartha, he feels he cannot afford to lose him. Yet Siddhartha is determined towards his quest and it becomes apparent to his father that though physically with him his son has already left him. This story finds an echo in many a modern day families. Parents fear their children’s future and always want to keep them as close as possible. This may not allow freedom to children to develop their own belief systems, to go on individual journeys to reflect or to follow one’s calling. As a young child I always wanted to swim, but my mother was always afraid of the dangers that lurk in the waters. Inspite of many efforts I found it difficult to convince her that I would be alright and it was safe. It was without her permission that I began swimming. It is this parental love that is so protective of the child that it cannot bear to expose him/her to even simple truths/pains of life.

Another obstacle that Siddhartha faces is Inertia. When living in the city as wealthy assistant to the merchant Kamaswmi. He falls into a relationship with courtesan Kamala. He becomes drunk and intoxicated with earthly desires. While initially he had looked at disdain towards City people whom he thought of as child like, eventually the Samana in him dies a slow death. Like a potter’s wheel it keeps rotating but slower and slower until it grinds to a halt. He learns the art of making love with Kamala but he becomes used to it. Used to all the contraptions of city life rich food, good clothes and shoes, servants to carry him about.

In all of this haze he find comfort and slowly like the moisture takes over a fallen tree Sloth wins over him. He does not realize on what path he is treading. This is a situation that many a young men find themselves unto. Many a times they do not realize this and even if they do they dismiss the thought as a figment of their imagination. The recent movie ‘Dev D’ epitomizes one such youth. Many of my friends in engineering colleges have had similar experiences and I have witnessed it from close quarters. Sadly no matter how much one tries to pull them out it is only with self realization that a person a can overcome this Inertia. In my case I always had a vision to make a career in Investments that motivated me to shake off this inertia. However on many of my friends it did take a toll. By the time they realized what was happening and how inertia and sloth had taken over their lives they had already lost precious lot of time. And their responsibilities had only grown with time while the strength had declined.

Siddhartha gets attracted to Kamala the moment he sees her. In fact as soon as he had come into proximity of her grove and city it had excited the elements in him. She teaches him how to make love, and how pleasure is not about taking but giving. How in satisfying someone one satisfies self. However both Siddhartha and Kamala realize that how they would never be able to love and that there was a truth that eluded them both. Siddhartha breaks out of his slothful existence in search of this. However Kamala had this desire to be a complete woman and no woman can be complete until she has nurtured a child. Since their last meeting Kamala realizes the way she is on and embraces it with full devotion.

She names Siddhartha and her child Siddhartha. It is only when she hears the news that Gotama is probably on his deathbed that she realizes the transcendence of life in this world. It hits her hard and she embarks on the path of pilgrimage to her Guru.  However as fate would have it she gets bitten by a snake. Afraid not only about herself but that she may lose her son as well she calls out for help. She is greatly relieved when she realizes that she has been reunited with Siddhartha and her son is now in safe hands. Lovingly she then embraces sweet oblivion.

Thus Kamala’s story though incomplete personifies many lives. She initially lives a life of hedonism of pleasure. This later changes to a life of giving and teaching ultimately turning into a life of nurturing. Though she always wanted to pursue truth and go into the fold of the exalted Gotama it is her desires and duties that keep holding her back. The worldly roles that she was supposed to enact and those that would make her complete kept holding onto her until she was dissipated. When this dawns on her not only had she lost the energy and luck for that but had also tied herself into a web that she herself could not flee.

The book ‘Siddhartha’ is replete with instances that can be called conventional sources of learning. One such instance is when Siddhartha renounce is material life in the town. He comes to river and feels that his life has been a waste and that he had squandered years after years pointlessly. It occurs to him that he should jump into the swirling waters and drown himself as there was no purpose of his existence. Then he hears the sound of the river, the whispering of its thousands of sounds which is Om. This calms him down and it becomes clear to him how childish he was being.

There are many such instances in life when one feels the pangs of such escapism. Many a times as a child out of utter embarrassment or fear I had closed my eyes and wished to disappear or die. Later with experience and confidence I realized that there is nothing that an Individual with resolve cannot accomplish. If thing have gone wrong it does not mean that they cannot be corrected. Whenever I doubted myself of tried to delude myself I have closed my eyes and said a little prayer. It always gave me the courage to put my best foot forward without worrying about the consequences.

Another such instance is when Kamala gets bitten by the snake. All her life she wanted to search for the truth. To seek salvation to be under the guidance of the enlightened one. Yet she always got trapped in one worldly pleasure after another. Initially it was passion, money, power and later it was love. Finally it was motherhood. If I know my aim I always try to accomplish it with a sense of urgency. All these obstacles are worldly temptations.

‘Kal kare so aaj kar. Aaj kare so ab. Pal mein parleye hoyegi, bahuri karega ka kab.’ With this saying by Sant Kabir always in mind I try to accomplish today whatever I have set myself to because no one has seen the future and I would rather complete the things I can today than waiting for tomorrow when the situations may change unfavorably and I might not be able to help the matter. Thus I would rather exert today than be sorry tomorrow.