Siddhartha essay

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.