The text analyses the journey of the Brahmin’s son on his path to enlightenment. Pages 7-24 equate with the struggle to cultivate right knowledge and right attitude. On page 7, he is sitting under the banyana tree reciting verse. He decides to join the Samanas who are wandering ascetics. His soul on page 7 is as straight as an arrow directed at Brahman. Govinda will join him on this pilgrimage. On page 12 he is trying to lose Self which is the second of the eightfold path. Govinda however is still searching for knowledge and this leads him to Gotama the Buddha. Here Siddhartha finds that to follow Gotama would entail giving his will and life over to the service of another. He cannot see that this path is going to lose Self. Gotama seems almost displeased with this idea of his and warns him to be careful. It is Siddhartha’s intention to forsake all teachers in his search for enlightenment Gotama warns him on page 29 to ‘be on you guard against too much cleverness.’ The beginning of right speech is here also; he does not react with anger towards the Buddha’s dismissal of him. All through the narrative until now, he is restrained in his words. He doesn’t try to turn his friend from the true path he is content to let others including the Buddha follow their path.
The crossing of the river is the forsaking of the life of an ascetic. It is a death to the old ways and a rebirth into the new life as a man of the world. The ferryman however impresses him with his kindness and reminds him of Govinda. When he goes to the town, he meets Kamala who represents earthly pleasures. She introduces him to the sensual pleasures of the world. By page 58 he is learning to recognise selfishness as he settles into the life of a merchant under the employ of Kamaswami, but he still has the inner stillness. ‘You are Kamala and no one else, and within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself, just as I can. Few people have that capacity and yet everyone could have it.’
Page 61 onwards; he is involved in the daily hustle and bustle of life and becomes enmeshed in the cares of the world albeit as an observer of life. He was an observer when he was an ascetic; nothing has changed in that sense. On page 68 he finally takes his leave of Kamaswami and departs, he leaves Kamala with his seed and ends up at the river which is the symbolic death of the old life he has just led. He meets Govinda on page 72 although his friend does not recognise him. By page 78 his old Self that was caught up in the cares of the old life has finally died, and he can cross over to the other side and a new beginning.
The true path now takes him onto right effort, which is serving others, he is fostering good impulses and noble thoughts, words and deeds under the watchful gaze of the ferryman. Vasudeva (the ferryman) tells him that the river has many voices ‘the voices of all living creatures are in its voice.’ The Right mindfulness, which is the seventh path and is evident when his son returns and he buries Kamala his former lover. He is caught between a desire to guide his son in the one true path and the dictates of his conscience, which say that the son has his own path to follow. Vasudeva helps him through this dilemma which is the final death. They build another boat to search for the son who has stolen their boat and crossed over to the other side. Siddhartha eventually realises that his son is lost to him and recalls his own childhood and the fact that he left his father to search for the one true path to enlightenment. He recognises this fact on page 104 when he hears the river laughing at him. He confesses the nature of his wound to Vasudeva and realises that the old man is eternity itself. He absorbs the wounds like a river and in that sense he is like a god. These final two chapters tell of Siddhartha’s final destination; right composure and nothing holds him back from his quest. Vasudeva has left him and he is the ferryman who takes people across the river. He has heard the voice of the river and seen the passage of time mirrored in its face. The beginning of his days and the end of his days are evident in the ever flowing river, the many deaths and rebirths. In the final chapter he again meets Govinda and imparts to him the gift of knowing when Govinda kisses his forehead and sees time as if it were one single entity. He sees in effect what Siddhartha sees and realises that his friend was all that he had loved and desired, even above that of the Illustrious One Buddha.
The narrative is a picture of the eightfold path to enlightenment and is loosely molded on the real life of Buddha. I found it interesting in parts and incredibly moving when he encounters his final death and realises that his son is lost to him. He sees that he too was once like his son and that he too broke his father’s heart by leaving as a young man. The circle is complete and Siddhartha has returned to the cradle of life, which is the river.
Written by Alastair Rosie for Myths and Symbols.
8 November, 1997 ©