There are five thieves stealing time out of our life, with each passing moment. They are Lust, Anger, Avarice, Attachments and Ego (Kaam, Krodh, Lobhh, Moh and Ahankar). And if we are ever to find Nirvana and peace of soul (not of mind), we must, first, free ourselves from these five. I agree most of us know it, yes, But, only know it! How many really believe in this fact and act on it - very few.
“Siddhartha had one single goal – to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, pleasure and sorrow – to let the Self die.”
In ‘Siddhartha’, through the life of its protagonist Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse plays with these five evils or should I say, these five evils plays with Siddhartha’s life, as they do with ours, on daily basis. Very skillfully and meticulously, writer explains the influence of each of these five evils on Siddhartha and how he gets rid of them. It explains how under the pride of his knowledge he considers himself superior to others; lust for his courtesan and greed of worldly riches keeps him busy in the worldly affairs and make him overlook his goal; and how, even when he feels that he is free of them all, attachment for his son disturbs his peace of mind and distract him from the path. But it also shows us that if one keeps walking on the path determinedly, and succeeds in getting rid of these 5 evils; he is sure to attain the peace of soul, the Nirvana, in the end.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Hermann Hesse, a novel laureate of 1946, was born in Germany in 1877. In 1919 he moved to Switzerland as a protest against German Militarism. He intended to follow his father and become a missionary but he rebelled against the traditional style of education and moved into number of vocations before starting a career into writing. He was greatly influenced by music and Eastern philosophies (which is the base of ‘Siddhartha’). ‘Siddhartha’, ‘The Glass Bead Game’ and ‘Demian’ were his major works. He died in Switzerland in 1962.
A Hermann Hesse Society of India has also been formed. It aims to bring out authentic translations of Siddhartha in all Indian languages. It has already prepared the Sanskrit translation of Siddhartha. (Wiki)
ABOUT THE STORY : Everybody loved Siddhartha. But Siddhartha himself was not happy. He had begun to feel the seed of discontent within him. He felt that the daily prayers and ablutions he performed, all the knowledge he had gained from scripture and the fellow Brahmins, including his father, is not enough. The unfathomable desire for the search of truth leads him to abandon his family and town. He spends few years in a forest, living a hard and stern life of a Samana (ascetic). He discards all physical pleasures, what more he discards his own self. But he finds only momentary relief in this practice and his heart still asked for more.
Having heard a great deal about Buddha, Siddhartha accompanied by his friend, Govinda, visits the enlighten one. The teachings of Buddha inspire as well as impress him, but they also make him feel that really wisdom can only be achieved through a person’s own experience. Other’s example, no matter how amazing can never satiate his cravings, so he concludes that he must work out his destiny on his own.
That’s when he decides to live in contradiction to his earlier way of life. He starts to give his self all the worldly pleasures. What follows is a sensual love affair with a courtesan, Kamala; his ventures into business in search of success and riches; gambling, wine and negligence.
"One must find the source within one’s own Self, one must possess it. Everything else was seeking – a detour, error."
But a soul that’s destined to achieve higher goals, cannot find solace, for long, in the material world. Soon the feelings of nausea and disgust fill his heart and Siddhartha, once again, abandons the world, but this time out of the soul’s calling. He starts living by the river, with blessed Ferrymen, and that’s where his life comes across peace and stability. But years afterwards, on meeting his son, he grows emotional, and discovers himself still bound to the world with chains of love and possessiveness. Will he be able to overcome this last obstacle? By the river he finds the peace and contentment of life. But, will the river also reveal to him the greatest secret of life? Read ‘Siddhartha’ to open your heart to the supreme wisdom of his life.
ABOUT THE BOOK : ‘Siddhartha’, Hermann Hesse’s best work, was first published in 1922, that makes it close to 90 years old, but the subject it covers is going to be as intriguing and interesting in centuries to come, as it was centuries ago.
Siddhartha is written in very simple language, with hardly a word to disrupt the flow of reading. And yet every time you finish reading a sentence you consider the need of re-reading it as if there is something veiled in those words and you must discern it. But as is pointed by Siddhartha himself in the book, true wisdom can not be acquired by reading or teaching. This book just serves the purpose of whetting the appetite, real work starts afterwards.
It’s a very short book going by the number of pages that constitute a meager figure of 117. But it took me considerably more time to finish it. Compared to it, many 300+ pages books took me lesser time to complete. If one could have to form the concept of 3D in literature this one surely deserves a place at the top. Depth and intensity of the words on each of its page made me spent quite a time contemplating the thoughts and drive the wisdom out of it.
LAST WORDS : ‘Siddhartha’ is an excellent book but should only be read if you have a spiritual perspective in your life. If your soul hungers for the truth of life; if time after time, you feel that madness of the world is making you sick and you must find the real meaning of life before you die. ‘Siddhartha’ is no fun read; no mystery or thriller; no love story or romance. It’s the story of a life spent in search of the truth, meaning of life, of God. But still I recommend it to all, it may, very well, sow the seed of discontent in your heart too and you may realize another Siddhartha, within your own self.
P.S. : Few extracts from the book are given in the comments section. One can feel the extent of depth present in the pages of ’Siddhartha’ through them.
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PYAR HUMEIN PHIR MILAAEGA...