Book Review of Siddhartha

Book review of Siddhartha by Hermann Hessee
This novel was written in 1922, but is still as relevant as it was at that time and in fact before it. It is a timeless travelogue, a journey of a young handsome and restless Brahman man to enlightenment.
It is not the story of Gautama but of a young and restless soul with the same name born around the same time.
In the journey this boy transforms to an enlighted man like a cocoon transferring into a beautiful and liberated butterfly. During the process, he becomes a strict and strong samana, a passionate but an indifferent lover, a successful and unsatisfied businessman, a win-hating gambler, a wise and contented ferryman, a broken hearted and loving father, a repenting and faithful son, a humble and unfaithful disciple and then finally an enlighted one.
On his discovery of himself he is taught by numerous teachers ranging from the great Gautama, a greedy businessman, a graceful and luscious woman, a wise ferryman and finally the river.
The whole novel is a search for the path, the dharma. It is a brief but a comprehensive work on the path. The two dialogues which deal directly with the path are one between the protagonist and the great Budha and the other one between the protagonist and his journey fatigued friend. These sections are itched to my memory because of their depth, simplicity and sincerity. He confides that he does not care too much about the words and also about thoughts to the great Gautama and his friend who fails to achieve enlightenment despite of lifetime of discourse and meditation with the great Budha. He believed that one has to walk the path to achieve the enlightenment, mere words, discourse and the thoughts will not take one there. The words and thoughts are illusionary and ever changing; they don’t belong to anyone especially not to the one who utters it. Because as soon as the words or the thoughts are uttered they become music for the ear of the listener and slave to the perceptions and circumstances of its new owner, that’s why the same holy book can make someone Rumi and another Laden, one Mother Terresa and another Hitler.
The Protagonist candidly tells the Budha that the one has to experience the pleasure and pain of the illusionary world before achieving enlightenment. Elsewhere the lover of protagonist admits that the sole reason why they will never be hurt in matter of hearts is that they are indifferent to the world however both of them experience the unavoidable pain of heart break before achieving the nirvana. The similar philosophy has been discussed in the Bhagwad and the middle path of Budhism; being part of the illusionary world but also at the same time being indifferent of the pain and pleasure. But is it the real path, I guess that is a subject matter of another discussion for which the present author is not intelligent enough to discuss.