Siddhartha

Siddhartha

Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, a Hindu Priest, and his best friend, Govinda, have grown up learning the ways of the Brahmins. Everyone in their village loves Siddhartha. But although he brings joy to everyone's life, Siddhartha feels little joy himself. He is troubled by restless dreams and begins to suspect that he has learned all that his father and the other Brahmins can teach him. Siddhartha's search for a new path leads him to seek out and join the ascetic Samanas. As a faithful friend and kindred spirit, Govinda accompanies him.

As Samanas, the pair of friends gets rid of all of their possessions and practice mortification (the control of physical desires and passions) of the flesh, especially through fasting. Siddhartha sought out pain because when pain looses its power over one's body, the Self forgets about pain and peace is attained. But while pain soon becomes a memory, peace does not come. Ultimately, Siddhartha reasons that one cannot really learn anything from teachers or the teachings they give. The knowledge he seeks lays within, in Atman, the element of the divine within him.

Three years after joining the Samanas, Siddhartha and Govinda hear rumors of a great man, Goatama, the Illustrious, the Buddha, who wanders the country preaching the way to enlightenment. Siddhartha and Govinda travel to Savathi, where they discover that the Buddha is staying in Jetavana, in the garden of Anathapindika. The two men hear Gotama's sermon, after which Govinda announces his intention to join in Goatama's followers. Siddhartha commends Govinda for his decision, but refuses to join him.

Having left Govinda and the Buddha, Siddhartha spends the night in a Ferryman's hut. The next morning he meets the Ferryman and crosses the river. Siddhartha admits to having no money to pay for the trip, but the Ferryman says that friendship is payment enough. Siddhartha continues on to a large town where he sees a beautiful woman being carried on a sedan chair by her servants. Struck by her beauty, Siddhartha determines to make her acquaintance and enters town to make himself presentable. A couple of days later, Siddhartha returns to the grove he saw the beautiful woman he learns in town that she is a courtesan named Kamala and begs to meet her. Making her acquaintance, he asks Kamala to teach him the art of love. Kamala responds that she will only do so when Siddhartha obtains nice clothes, shoes, and money to buy her gifts.

Eventually, Siddhartha begins to feel a great attachment to his ordinary life. This change was not easy, though. While he excites his senses and decreases the distance between himself and his daily activities, Siddhartha does not have the sense of importance with which ordinary people live their lives, and for this he was jealous of them. He gives himself completely to his acquisitiveness and his insatiable desire to learn more. He begins gambling as a way to show his want for riches, but soon the thrill of the game becomes its own reward; the higher the stakes, the more able the excitement is. This downward spiral is finally stopped by