Herman
Hesse's Siddhartha illustrates truths and wisdoms about Hinduism
and Buddhism. It is a determined search for the truth about oneself, the truth
for Siddhartha and Govinda being the universal understanding of life, or
Nirvana. The two men both have a basic wish to understand their lives through
spirituality. Nirvana is a concept of Buddhism. It is not always easy to see
how Buddhism arose out of Hinduism, as the textual basis is a bit more obscure
than, for example, seeing how Christianity arose out of Judaism by using the
Bible. Like the Buddha, Siddhartha set out on foot with his friend Govinda into
the forest in search of spiritual knowledge. There are many Buddhist insights
and realizations in this book. This includes one of Siddhartha's many teachers,
Vasudeva, whom he learned the most from. Through Siddhartha and Vasudeva's
conversations as they observe the flow of the river, Siddhartha eventually
becomes enlightened. Although Govinda and Siddhartha both have the same
destination, they are different in what they are willing to do in order to
reach their truth. Siddhartha follows many paths, however, to reach his
spiritual destination, Nirvana, while Govinda believes in and sticks to the
life of a Samana.
Unlike
his father, a Brahmin, Siddhartha believed his calling was to be a Samana. He
and Govinda wandered into the woods in order to concentrate and become closer
and closer to the heightened sensation that is Nirvana. "The Brahmin saw
that Siddhartha's knees were trembling slightly. In Siddhartha's face he saw no
trembling; his eyes gazed into the distance straight before him. The father
realized then that Siddhartha was no longer with him in the place of his
birth" (Hesse 10). Siddhartha had gone to his father to talk to him and
ask for his permission to leave his home and travel into the woods to become a
Samana. All night long Siddhartha waits patiently, standing, not moving,
although his knees trembled slightly. This is one of the first signs of his
exceptional patience. "Soon, Govinda, your friend will leave behind this
path of the Samanas that he has traveled so long at your side. I am suffering
from thirst, Govinda, and upon this long Samana path I have found nothing to
slake it" (Hesse 17). Siddhartha, after having lived, experienced, and mastered
the Samana way of life, became suspicious that it was leading him to a dead
end. He quickly changed his course and walked away from that way of life,
departing his spiritual teachers and searched for the material
world. "For a long time Siddhartha had been living the worldly life
with its pleasures but was not part of it...The years flew by, and Siddhartha,
swaddled in well-being, scarcely felt their passing...that noble, bright
awakens he had experienced once, at the height of his youth, in the days
following Gautama's sermon, after his parting from Govinda--that eager
expectancy, that proud standing alone without teachers or doctrines, that
supple readiness to hear the divine voice within his own heart--had faded into
memory; it had been transitory." (Hesse 64-65). After being enveloped and
indulged the material world, Siddhartha wakes up to realize he has been
completely disconnected from his path to enlightenment. Once he snaps out of
his luxurious living, he embarks his journey to discover the secret of
oneself once again. "When she first received word of Siddhartha's
disappearance, she went to the window, where she had been keeping a rare
songbird imprisoned in a golden cage. She opened the door of the cage, took the
bird out, and let it fly away" (Hesse 72). Siddhartha had dreamed of
a bird that died in a cage, which symbolizes what would happen to him if he
continued his life of samsara. When he leaves, Kamala releases an actual bird.
The bird represented Siddhartha leaving the prison of samsara and choosing a
life outside of the cage rather than a life of pleasure and comfort within it.
Govinda,
however, is much more flexible than Siddhartha in his search for enlightenment.
He doesn't question spiritual teachers as Siddhartha does. He has a need for
teachers, and restricts himself to the spiritual and religious world, unlike
Siddhartha who is willing to break with religion and abandon all of his
training as a Samana. "How is it possible that among so many rigorous and
venerable Samanas, among so many seekers, so many who are so deeply devoted, so
many holy men, none should find the Path of Paths?" (Hesse 17). Govinda is
one to follows rules in order to get to where he wants to be, in this case his
own spiritual enlightenment. After having followed Siddhartha into the life of
a Samana, he realizes he is meant to be there, and he strictly believes in the
narrow confines of Hindu or Buddhist beliefs, which is why he does not continue
to follow Siddhartha into a new world, a new path. "When Siddhartha sat
up, he saw a man seated across from him, a stranger, a monk dressed in a yellow
robe with a shaved head, sitting in the pose used for contemplation...Govinda
too had aged, but still his face displayed the same features as before: They
spoke of eagerness, of fidelity, of searching, of apprehension" (Hesse
77). When Siddhartha has been living by himself, homeless, without Kamala, he
awakes one day to find a monk watching over where he sleeps. He realizes it is
Govinda; he who stayed and learned from the Samanas, he who serves and was
making sure no snake harmed Siddhartha in his sleep. Govinda does not recognize
Siddhartha at the beginning, but once he does they greet each other warmly.
Siddhartha explains, after having an ohm-infused nap, that he is on a pilgrimage.
Govinda, full of doubt, walks away from Siddhartha, with Siddhartha realizing
he still loves Govinda and all things he sees. "...I believe you and know
that you never followed a teacher. But have you not yourself found, if not a
doctrine, then at least certain thoughts, certain insights that belong to you
and help you live? If you were able to tell me something of them you would fill
my heart with joy" (Hesse 118). Govinda has a rather limited search, only
being able to attain enlightenment through an act of grace on Siddhartha's
part. When Govinda finds Siddartha at the end of the novel, he becomes an
apprentice to Siddhartha because Siddhartha has attained the Nirvana they both
looked for since the beginning.
Om, which
signifies the unity and oneness of all things, signalizes key moments of
awakening for Siddhartha; his ability to understand Om helps him enter his
enlightenment. He experiences Om multiple times along his journey, each time he
experienced it a change sparked within him. "He had mastered Om,
the Word of Words, learned to speak it soundlessly into himself while drawing a
breath, to speak it out soundlessly as his breath was released, his soul
collected, brow shining with his mind's clear thought. He had learned to feel
Atman's presence at the core of his being, inextinguishable, one with the
universe" (Hesse 3). His first encounter with Om is as a Brahmin; he
realizes that although he has been taught what the sound of the universe should
mean, nobody has understood it in the sense of relating to their own lives.
They intellectually understand the concept, but they do not reflect the
enlightenment that comes from the true embracing of Om in the way that they
live their lives. "Then, from distant reaches of his soul, from bygone
realms of his weary life, a sound fluttered. It was a word, a syllable that he
now spoke aloud, mindlessly, his voice a babble, the first and final word of
every Brahmin prayer, the holy Om that meant the perfect or
perfection. And the moment the sound Om touched Siddhartha's
ear, his slumbering spirit suddenly awoke and recognized the foolishness of his
actions" (Hesse 75). When he is standing near the river, thinking
about suicide, he hears Om again as he is trying to merge with Om. It saves him
from a fate that was not his. He recognizes it as being all around him, instead
of searching for it on an intellectual foundation, instead of searching for a
philosophy. "And when Siddhartha listened attentively to this river, to
this thousand-voiced song, when he listened neither for the sorrow nor for the
laughter, when he did not attach his soul to any one voice and enter it with
his ego but rather all of them, heard the whole, the oneness--then the great
song of the thousand voices consisted only of a single word: Om,
perfection" (Hesse 114). Towards the end of the novel, the more he
listens to the river the more aware of the complexity of Om he becomes. When he
finally comprehends the entire word, he finally achieves enlightenment.
Hesse's Siddhartha encompasses
aspects of Buddhism such as Nirvana, Om, and reincarnation. Siddhartha
experiences all three of these, starting from him leaving his Brahmin father's
home in order to set foot on his journey to find the truth about Oneness, or
Nirvana, and ending with Govinda watching in awe as he transformed through all
of his previous life forms, all of his reincarnations until he finally reached
Nirvana. Siddhartha reached his destination at the end of the novel after
having had to experience firsthand and completely understand the meaning of Om,
and life lessons from many teachers who helped him along his journey.
Govinda--first apprentice to the Gautama Buddha, later apprentice to Siddhartha
himself--also reaches enlightenment, but in a different manner. He has always
been a follower, listening to his teachers and abiding to the more strict side
of religion. In result, enlightenment is achieved for both Govinda and
Siddhartha, exposing all different aspects of the concepts of Buddhism and its
origin.
