Critique of Hesse's Siddhartha: Self-Realization Journey & Nature's Role, Exams of Sociology

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SELF REALIZATION: A CRITIQUE OF HERMAN HESSE’S SIDDHARTHA

Assistant Professor of English^ Dr. V. Asha Kumari Centre for Postgraduate Studies and Research in English Muslim Arts College, Thiruvithancode Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT German literature comprises of literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in the Germany, Austria, the German parts of Switzerland and Belgium, Liechtenstein, South Tyrol in Italy and to a lesser extent works of the German Diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in standard German, but there are some currents of literature influenced to a greater or lesser degree by dialects. Medieval German literature is a literature written in Germany, stretching from the Carolingian Dynasty Middle Ages, the Reformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point. Middle High German starts in the 12th century, the key works include The Ring (ca.1410) and the poems of Oswald von wolkenstein and Johannes Von Tepl. The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Modern literature in German begins with the authors of the Enlightenment. The sensibility movement of the 1750-1770s ended with Goethe’s best selling Die Leiden des jungen Werther (1774). German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th^ and early 19 thcenturies.The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German language authors thirteen times ( as of 2009) or the third most often after English and French language authors with winners including Thomas mann, Herman Hesse and Gunter grass .“Siddhartha “is the most notable of Hermann Hesse’s literary works.

Hermann Hesse’s novel “Peter Camenzind” gained him literary success. The novel reflects Hesse’s disgust with the educational system. In 1911, he visited India and that visit inspired him to write on the Eastern religions and he wrote Siddhartha in 1922 due to this visit. A Universally acclaimed novel based on internal conflicts and moral values Siddhartha is a logical, emotional and sociological effort by Hermann Hesse. The novel is about a young man, Siddhartha who is seeking for self discovery and for his internal satisfaction. Nature guides him towards self discovery and makes Siddhartha experience and learn different things through nature. According to Siddhartha, knowledge can be taught, but wisdom cannot be taught, it can only be gained through experience. Siddhartha’s best friend, Govinda, plays an important part in the novel. He devotes his life together with Siddhartha to find enlightenment and joins Samanas and then follows Buddha's teachings. Kamala also plays an important role in changing the life of Siddhartha in leaving his ascetic life and to adjust in the city. This novel Siddhartha depicts the relationship between nature and internal conflicts of an individual. The novel Siddhartha deals with self-realization. “Self-realization” is the maximum that a person can achieve by using his abilities and skills or it is the fulfillment of one’s own objectives and goals. Thomas Szasz (1973) says about self-realization that; “people often say that at this or that person has not found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates”. Siddhartha creates himself and experiences the brutal realities of nature and after that he attains self-realization. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines self-realization as “the fact of using your skills and abilities and achieving as much as you can possibly achieve”. G.Hendricks (2006) comes up with a more comprehensive definition of self-realization that “The highest goal of spirituality is self-realization, but what does that mean? It means to

cannot dissuade Siddhartha, Govinda also wants to find a path to enlightenment, and he joins Siddhartha in this “new life”. Siddhartha adjusts quickly to the ways of the Samanas because of the patience and discipline he learned in the Brahmin tradition. He learns how to free himself from the traditional trappings of life, and so loses his desire for property, clothing, sexuality and all sustenance except that required to live. His goal is to find enlightenment by eliminating his self, and he successfully renounces the pleasure of the world. Sunburned and half-starved, Siddhartha soon cease to resemble the boy he used to be. Govinda is quick to praise the samanas and notes the considerable moral and spiritual improvements they both have achieved since joining. Siddhartha however, is still dissatisfied. The path of self-denial does not provide a permanent solution for him. He points out that the oldest Samanas have lived the life for many years but have yet to attain true spiritual enlightenment. The Samanas have been as unsuccessful as the Brahmins, Siddhartha and Govinda left behind. At this time, Siddhartha and other Samanas begin to hear a new holy man named Gotama, the Buddha who has attained the total spiritual enlightenment called Nirvana. Govinda convinces Siddhartha that they both should leave the Samanas and seek out Gotama. Siddhartha and Govinda inform the leader of the Samanas of their decision to leave. The leader is clearly displeased, but Siddhartha silences him with, an almost magical hypnotizing gaze. Siddhartha and Govinda find Gotama’s camp of followers and are taken in. Siddhartha is initially pleased with Gotama, and he and Govinda are instructed in the Eightfold path, the four main points, and other aspects of Buddhism. However, while

Govinda is convinced to join Gotama and his followers, Siddhartha still not has doubts. He has noticed a contradiction in Gotama’s teachings. Siddhartha questions how one can embrace the unity of all things, Buddha asks, if they are also being told to overcome the physical world. Siddhartha realizes Buddhism will not give him the answers he needs. Sadly, he leaves Govinda behind and begins a search for the meaning of life, the achievement of which he feels will not be dependents on religious instruction. Siddhartha decides to embark on life free from meditation and the spiritual quests he has been pursuing, and to instead learn from the pleasures of the body and the material world. In his new wanderings, Siddhartha meets a friendly ferryman, fully content with his simple life. Siddhartha crosses the ferryman’s river and comes to a city. Here, a beautiful courtesan named Kamala entrances him. He knows she would be the best one to teach him about the world of love, but Kamala will not have him unless he proves he can fit into the material world. She convinces him to take up the path of Merchant with her help Siddhartha soon finds employment with a merchant named Kamaswami and begins to learn the trade. While Siddhartha learns the wisdom of the business world and begins to master the skills, Kamaswami teaches him what she knows about love. Years pass and Siddhartha’s business acumen increases, soon he becomes a rich man and enjoys the benefits of an affluent life. He gambles, drinks and dances and anything that can be bought in the material world is his for the taking. Siddhartha is detached from this life, however, and he can never see it as more than a game. He doesn't care if he wins or loses this game because it doesn't touch his spirit in any lasting way.

Hesse uses the river to symbolize unity of all things, eternity, and overall the path of life and enlightenment. He mentions how the river's voice was full of longing, full of smarting woe, full of insatiable desire. The river flowed on towards its goal. He connects how the river never stops flowing, never reaching an end or complete stop, to goals. This is what Siddhartha realized his life consisted of. At first, his goal was to be a good Brahmin, then he wanted to find his self by becoming a Samana, and after that he wanted to seek Buddha’s experience in efforts to achieve enlightenment. One goal after another, Siddhartha was always chasing after something and his sense of desire to achieve his goal changes. Furthermore, the river shows how in life, the flowing of the cycle of goals create the feelings of desire, pleasure, sorrow, etc., which is what life is composed of. Siddhartha figured out through the river that to find unity and wholeness, one does not focus on goals or each individual outcome, such as pleasure or sorrow, which will then eliminate desire. Through the river, he learned what it took to find true salvation. Sick at heart, Siddhartha wanders until he finds a river. He considers drowning himself, but he instead falls asleep on the river bank. While he is sleeping, Govinda, who is now a Buddhist monk, passes by. Not recognizing Siddhartha, he watches over the sleeping man to protect him from snakes. Siddhartha immediately recognizes Govinda when he wakes up, but Govinda notes that Siddhartha has changed significantly from his days with the Samanas and now appears to be a rich man. Siddhartha responds that he is currently neither a Samana nor a rich man. Siddhartha wishes to become someone new. Govinda soon leaves to continue on his journey, and Siddhartha sits by the river and considers where his life has taken him.

Siddhartha seeks out the same content ferryman he met years before. The ferryman, who introduces himself as Vasudeva, radiates an inner peace that Siddhartha wishes to attain. Vasudeva says he himself has attained this sense of peace through many years of studying the river. Siddhartha expresses a desire to likewise learn from the river, and Vasudeva agrees to let Siddhartha live and work beside him. Siddhartha studies the river and begins to take from it a spiritual enlightenment unlike any he has ever known. While sitting by the river, he contemplates the unity of all life and in the river’s voice he hears the wisdom. One day Kamala the courtesan approaches the ferry along with her son on a pilgrimage to visit Gotama, who is said to be dying. Before they can cross, a snake bites Kamala. Siddhartha and Vasudeva tend to Kamala, but the bite kills her. Before she dies, she tells Siddhartha that he is the father of her eleven-year-old son. Siddhartha does his best to console and provide for his son, but the boy is spoiled and cynical. Siddhartha’s son dislikes life with the two ferrymen and wishes to return to his familiar city and wealth. Vasudeva believes Siddhartha’s son should be allowed leave if he wants to, but Siddhartha is not ready to let him go. One morning, Siddhartha awakens to find his son has run away and stolen all of his and Vasudeva's money. Siddhartha chases after the boy, but as he reaches the city he realizes the chase is futile. Vasudeva follows Siddhartha and brings him back to their home by the river, instructing him to soothe the pain of losing his son by listening the river. Siddhartha studies the river for many years, and Vasudeva teaches Siddhartha how to learn the many secrets the river has to tell. In contemplating the river, Siddhartha has a revelation. Just as the water of the river flows into the ocean and is returned by rain,

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