Siddhartha (novel)
| Siddhartha | |
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| Author | Hermann Hesse |
| Translator | Hilda Rosner |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre(s) | novel |
| Publisher | Bantam Books |
| Publication date | 1922, 1951 (U.S.) |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 152 |
| ISBN | 0-553-20884-5 |
| OCLC Number | 9766655 |
Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of a boy known as Siddhartha from the Indian Subcontinent during the time of the Buddha.
The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple yet powerful and lyrical style. It was first published in 1922, after Hesse had spent some time in India in the 1910s. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated Siddhartha to Romain Rolland, "my dear friend".
The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (meaning or wealth). The two words together mean "he who has found meaning (of existence)" or "he who has attained his goals".[1] The Buddha's name, before his renunciation, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama. In this book, the Buddha is referred to as "Gotama".
Contents |
Plot summary
It starts as Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, leaves his home to join the ascetics with his companion Govinda. The two set out in the search of enlightenment.
Siddhartha goes from asceticism, to a very worldly life as a trader with a lover, and back to asceticism as he attempts to achieve this goal.
The story takes place in ancient India around the time of Gautama Buddha (likely between the fourth and seventh centuries BC[2]).
Experience is the aggregate of conscious events experienced by a human in life – it connotes participation, learning and knowledge. Understanding is comprehension and internalization. In Hesse’s novel Siddhartha, experience is shown as the best way to approach understanding of reality and attain enlightenment – Hesse’s crafting of Siddhartha’s journey shows that understanding is attained not through scholastic, mind-dependent methods, nor through immersing oneself in the carnal pleasures of the world and the accompanying pain of samsara; however, it is the totality of these experiences that allow Siddhartha to attain understanding.
Thus, the individual events are meaningless when considered by themselves—Siddhartha’s stay with the samanas and his immersion in the worlds of love and business do not lead to nirvana, yet they cannot be considered distractions, for every action and event that is undertaken and happens to Siddhartha helps him to achieve understanding. The sum of these events is thus experience.
For example, Siddhartha’s passionate and pained love for his son is an experience that teaches him empathy; he is able to understand childlike people after this experience. Previously, though he was immersed in samsara, he could not comprehend childlike people’s motivations and lives. And while samsara clung to him and made him ill and sick of it, he was unable to understand the nature of samsara. Experience of samsara at this point did not lead to understanding; perhaps it even hindered him. In contrast to this, Siddhartha’s experience with his son allows him to love, something he has not managed to do before; once again, the love itself does not lead to understanding.
The novel ends with Siddhartha being a ferryman, learning from a river, and at long last at peace and capturing the essence of his journey:
Slower, he walked along in his thoughts and asked himself: “But what is this, what you have sought to learn from teachings and from teachers, and what they, who have taught you much, were still unable to teach you?” And he found: “It was the self, the purpose and essence of which I sought to learn. It was the self, I wanted to free myself from, which I sought to overcome. But I was not able to overcome it, could only deceive it, could only flee from it, only hide from it. Truly, no thing in this world has kept my thoughts thus busy, as this my very own self, this mystery of me being alive, of me being one and being separated and isolated from all others, of me being Siddhartha! And there is no thing in this world I know less about than about me, about Siddhartha!”
Major themes
A major preoccupation of Hesse in writing Siddhartha was to cure his 'sickness with life' (Lebenskrankheit) by immersing himself in Indian philosophy such as that expounded in the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.[3] The reason the second half of the book took so long to write was that Hesse "had not experienced that transcendental state of unity to which Siddhartha aspires. In an attempt to do so, Hesse lived as a virtual semi-recluse and became totally immersed in the sacred teachings of both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures. His intention was to attain to that 'completeness' which, in the novel, is the Buddha's badge of distinction."[4] The novel is structured on three of the traditional stages of life for Hindu males (student (brahmacarin), householder (grihastha) and recluse/renunciate (vanaprastha)) as well as the Buddha's four noble truths (Part One) and eight-fold path (Part Two) which form twelve chapters, the number in the novel.[5] Ralph Freedman mentions how Hesse commented in a letter "[m]y Siddhartha does not, in the end, learn true wisdom from any teacher, but from a river that roars in a funny way and from a kindly old fool who always smiles and is secretly a saint."[6] In a lecture about Siddhartha, Hesse claimed "Buddha's way to salvation has often been criticized and doubted, because it is thought to be wholly grounded in cognition. True, but it's not just intellectual cognition, not just learning and knowing, but spiritual experience that can be earned only through strict discipline in a selfless life."[7] Freedman also points out how Siddhartha described Hesse's interior dialectic: "All of the contrasting poles of his life were sharply etched: the restless departures and the search for stillness at home; the diversity of experience and the harmony of a unifying spirit; the security of religious dogma and the anxiety of freedom."[8]
Film versions
A film version entitled Siddhartha was released in 1972. It starred Shashi Kapoor and was directed by Conrad Rooks.
In 1971, a surrealistic adaptation as a musical Western was released as Zachariah. John Rubinstein starred in the title role and George Englund was the director. Don Johnson played Matthew, the equivalent of Govinda.
English translations
In recent years several American publishers have commissioned new translations of the novel, which had previously been impossible because of copyright restrictions. In addition to these newer translations, Hilda Rosner's original 1951 translation is still being sold in a number of reprint editions put out by various publishers. The newest translations include:
- Modern Library, a translation by Susan Bernofsky, foreword by Tom Robbins, translator's preface (2006).
- Penguin, a translation by Joachim Neugroschel, introduction by Ralph Freedman, translator's note (2002).
- Barnes & Noble, a translation by Rika Lesser, introduction by Robert A. Thurman (2007).
- Shambhala Classics, a translation by Sherab Chödzin Kohn, introduction by Paul W. Morris, translator's preface (1998).
Musical references
- The 1972 Yes song Close to The Edge from the Close to the Edge album was inspired by the book.
- Radiohead's 2001 album Amnesiac contains themes and lyrics inspired by the book, especially "Pyramid Song", "I Might Be Wrong", and "Like Spinning Plates".
- Rock band Queen recites a passage from Siddhartha in their 1977 BBC re-take of the song We Will Rock You. [1]
- Jerry Cantrell has a song called Siddhartha on his Degradation Trip double album.
- Andrew McMahon of the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin has the quote "the river is everywhere" tattooed on his wrist and is currently working on a clothing line called River Apparel.
- The Hot Water Music song Sunday Suit contains the line "Siddhartha style, I'll choose a path of open minds".
- "The river man" by R.E.M
- Pete Townshend's song The Ferryman was written for a modern production of Siddhartha in June 1976.
- The Slovenian rock band Siddharta was named after the novel.
References
- ↑ "The Life of Siddhartha Gautama". http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/siddhartha.html. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ↑ Cousins, L.S. (1996). "The Dating of the Historical Buddha: A Review Article". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Series 3 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press) 6 (1): 57–63. ISSN 1356-1863. http://indology.info/papers/cousins/. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ↑ Donald McClory introduction to Hermann Hesse. Siddhartha. Picador. London 1998 pp 24-25.
- ↑ Donald McClory introduction to Hermann Hesse. Siddhartha. Picador. London 1998 p26.
- ↑ Donald McClory introduction to Hermann Hesse. Siddhartha. Picador. London 1998 pp41-42.
- ↑ Ralph Freedman. Hermann Hesse. Pilgrim of Crisis. Jonathan Cape. London. 1979 p 233.
- ↑ Ralph Freedman. Hermann Hesse. Pilgrim of Crisis. Jonathan Cape. London. 1979 p233.
- ↑ Ralph Freedman. Hermann Hesse. Pilgrim of Crisis. Jonathan Cape. London. 1979 p 235.
External links
- Full texts of Siddhartha in original German and English translation from Project Gutenberg
- Audio recording in English of Siddhartha from Librivox.org
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