When pain is gone, the Self fades into oblivion and peace is attained. His path to self-negation was through physical pain, pain he endured until he no longer felt it as pain. With the Samanas, "Siddhartha had one goal - to become empty, to become empty of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasure, and sorrowto let the Self die" (14). It is all illusory and destined to decay, leaving those who treasure it in great pain. As a result of this, the normal human world becomes anathema to Siddhartha. Govinda joins Siddhartha as they disappear into the forest in search of the Samanas.Īs Samanas, Siddhartha and Govinda relinquish all their possessions and dedicate themselves to meditation, fasting, and other methods of mortification. Siddhartha's father acquiesces to his son's wishes and allows him to leave, reminded him that he is welcome back should he find disillusionment with the Samanas.
In the morning, Siddhartha's father returns to his intransigent son and realizes that while Siddhartha's body remains is present, his mind had already departed. The obstinate youth, though, remains motionless.
His frustrated father leaves him, gazing out of his window periodically to see if Siddhartha has left. In respectful defiance, Siddhartha does not move. When Siddhartha announces his intention to join the Samanas, his father becomes very upset and forbids Siddhartha's departure. It is Siddhartha's search for this new path that leads him to the ascetic Samanas. Everythig else was seekinga detour, error" (7). As Siddhartha says, "One must find the source within one's Self, one must possess it. But if Atman is within, then oneness with it must proceed by focusing on the world within. Siddhartha is dissatisfied with the Brahmans because despite their knowledge, the Brahmins are seekers still, performing the same exercises again and again in order to reach their goalNirvana: the peace of oneness with Atman the Divine withinwithout ever finding it. As Hesse says, ".they had already poured the sum total of their knowledge into his waiting vessel and the vessel was not full, his intellect was not satisfied, his soul was not at peace, his heart was not still" (5). He is troubled by restless dreams and begins to wonder if he has learned all that his father and the other Brahmins can teach him. But although he brings joy to everyone's life, Siddhartha feels little joy himself. Everyone in their village loves Siddhartha.
Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin (a Hindu Priest), and his best friend, Govinda, have grown up learning the ways of the Brahmins.
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