Preview

Kamala's Journey In Siddhartha

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
641 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Kamala's Journey In Siddhartha
Siddhartha, the son of a Brahmin, progresses on a quest for the true meaning of life, or Nirvana, through constant movement between distinct paths in order to fulfill his feeling of emptiness. Throughout the novel “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha learns that enlightenment comes from within, and initially commences to seek external guidance from the Brahmins, Samanas and Buddism. Since his childhood, the Brahmins deposited their absolute knowledge into his “waiting vessel”, his spiritual mind, yet he was still not at peace. The Brahmins teach Siddhartha the virtue of patience, the art of prayer as well as make him well-versed in the different rituals. The feeling of desolation immersed in him provokes Siddhartha’s determination to leave, …show more content…
His next primary goal is learning the art of love from Kamala, a famous courtesan. Although he rejected the other spiritual teachers, he accepts Kamala, a teacher of desire, and he consciously decides to follow her teachings. After years filled with indulgence of vices, he finally awakens by a dream of Kamala’s songbird and realizes that he lived pointlessly, and he leaves immediately. With utmost desolation, he turns to suicide but the sound “Om” emanates within him compelling him to stop. Upon awaking from a deep sleep, Siddhartha is rejuvenated and becomes entrenched in the beauty of the river and exclaims, "Nothing is mine, I know nothing, I possess nothing, I have learned nothing". He concludes that every approach he took in life has ultimately resulted in a stalemate.
Lastly, he finally finds the characteristics of an ideal teacher in Vasudeva, a ferryman, and lives with him beside the river. Vasudeva accepts Siddhartha as a disciple when he deduces that the river spoke to him. Siddhartha devotes himself to listen to the river and learns influential lessons from it. With the help of the river and Vasudeva, he finally learns the last elements necessary to achieve

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha’s life journey is representative of the worldly human desire to find meaning and success within oneself.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Hero's Journey

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages

    On his new journey, Siddhartha comes across a river and a friendly ferryman, Vasudeva, who gives him a ride to the nearest city. Kamala, a courtesan, greets Siddhartha in the city and teaches him about love. A local merchant, Kamaswami, teaches Siddhartha how to be a businessman, and Siddhartha soon becomes wealthy. After many years of living an affluent life, Siddhartha recognizes that he is unhappy but continues to live a life of sex, gambling, and alcohol. After reaching rock bottom Siddhartha has a dream through which he understands that his current lifestyle is not providing him with the enlightenment he has been longing for. He leaves the city and returns to the river. At this point Siddhartha considers drowning himself, but ends up falling asleep on the bank. When Siddhartha wakes up he senses the peace he has been looking for within Vasudeva. Vasudeva shares how he has attained enlightenment and Siddhartha eventually finds nirvana through years of studying the river.…

    • 1953 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha, the celebrated book by swiss author Hermann Hesse, is acclaimed for its spiritual story arc. Nonetheless, it is also a minefield for symbolic themes such as the recurring water imagery and the omnipresent circle motif. The most important theme however, is unity, as Siddhartha realizes it is the answer to his search for nirvana. Unity is explored in many ways throughout the whole book, but one way in particular stands out: the idea that opposites attract to form balance and symmetry. Hermann Hesse uses the relationships of the titular character in his book to substantiate the concept that opposites attract and the notion that harmony between antipodes is primordial. Siddhartha’s opinions on materialism, enlightenment and wealth vary from that of his friends Kamala, Govinda and Kamaswami, yet they ensure balance between himself and his companions.…

    • 1083 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Research Paper

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha has a myriad of teachers. His one goal in life is to achieve enlightenment. He encounters various teachers in hopes of achieving enlightenment through one of their teachings or experiences. Nevertheless, with every teacher, he comes into a new phase of his life with a new intention in mind. He learns the ways of life through his teachers of Kamala, Kamaswami, and Vasudeva.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book, Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is on a quest to self-discovery, which was influenced by characters like Gotama, Kamala, and Vasudeva. These characters have impacted Siddhartha’s life considerably, and contribute to his path to enlightenment. They have brought him teachings, love, money, and the art of listening. Siddhartha has the most substantial impact on himself throughout the novel by questioning teachings, experiencing new concepts, and learning from the river of life, which flows inevitably.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Paper

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages

    One of the first precepts that Hesse tried to depict was the four noble truths: life means suffering, the origin of suffering is attachment, the cessation of suffering is attainable, and the path of cessation is suffering. Hesse shows us these four truths when Siddhartha leaves his home and has to break off from his family and live as a Samarian. I think that Hesse has depicted this part of the story to us to show that if someone wants enlightenment, he/she has to let go of what they have in order to reach the higher being that the Buddhist believe to be in. Another part in the book that showed this is when Siddhartha and his friend’s beliefs where clashing with his own. Siddhartha and his friends had traveled together for a while and when they all realized it was best for them all to go their separate ways it then turned into a test of Siddhartha’s ability to let go. For so long Siddhartha had grown up with someone always there by his side, so of course doubt was on his mind when he left, but once he realized his ability in doing things on his own it was much easier.…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Siddhartha, Herman Hesse, the author, narrates Siddhartha's path to enlightenment throughout his life. First, Siddhartha realizes that he is not achieving true enlightenment when he is with his father; as a result he departs on a journey , and he is accompanied by his best friend, Govinda. As Siddhartha and Govinda advance on this journey, they run into obstacles. Later down the road Siddhartha meets two people who change his life,, Kamala and his son. Siddhartha finds himself on a quest to achieve enlightenment, but later discovers that the path to enlightenment is not an ability he discovers, but rather than an endless cycle that he create through various.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When Siddhartha crosses the river for the first time, he crosses into a village where he meets one of his teachers, Kamala. This crossing of the river symbolizes Siddhartha’s crossing from the ascetic life to one of prosperity and success. When Siddhartha goes into the village and meets Kamala, Kamala changes him from being a shramana to becoming a…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Written by Herman Hesse, Siddhartha provides a unique experience of how suffering can be overcome with an aspiration in mind, no matter how long it takes. Even at the beginning of the book, Siddhartha realizes he is discontent by the sheltered world of his fancy life of a Brahmin. He believes there is something more, to truly understand and find peace with his innermost self, the goal of achieving Nirvana. He begins with joining the Samanas, believing that one has to suffer to reach this enlightened state; living like the Samanas would create conditions of treacherous life, having to starve, feeling weak in order to feel better (13). Siddhartha even encounters Buddha, and decides it is not worth it to follow him, for he wants to experience life and suffering for himself, instead of being taught second-hand. Eventually he met a girl, Kamala, and it almost…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Herman Hesse's Siddhartha strove for spiritual enlightenment. He left his home at a young age to become a part of wandering ascetics,…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Journey

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lao Tzu is quoted saying, “knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment,” and Hermann Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, carries this sentiment over to its story. To fulfill his journey to find his identity and achieve Nirvana, Siddhartha experiences three different aspects of life, the intellectual world, the material world, and the spiritual world.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In order to achieve the ultimate knowledge, one must not followed the path set by others, instead follow one’s path through self-experience. Even though Siddhartha did not reach enlightenment, everything he learned from his teachers was helpful, and would be on the next chapter of his life, in which his moving on now as a result of the revelation caused by the…

    • 2121 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Herman Hesse 's Siddhartha depicts the epic of “a man 's search for himself through the stages of guilt, alienation, despair, to the experience of unity” (Ziolkowski 1). The novel is credited as a critical attribution to Hesse 's works as “it marks an important step in the development of Hesse and is unique in German literature in its presentation of Eastern philosophy” (Malthaner 1). In it, Siddhartha wrestles with the beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, and other aspects of various Eastern religions in an attempt to achieve Nirvana. He begins his life as the son of a holy Brahmin and matures to become one himself. Finding no solace in his prayers and daily rituals, he abandons all he has known in order to become a simple Samana and lose the Self in order to attain Enlightenment. However, he finds himself “caught in a continuous cycle of death and rebirth because he has not yet achieved a state of total enlightenment or Nirvana” (Bennett 2). Siddhartha uses what he has learned from the Samanas to hypnotize an elder so that the elder will allow Siddhartha and his lifelong friend, Gotama, to leave in order for them to enlighten themselves through the teachings of the Buddha. He listens to the Illustrious One, and finds error in his ways as “it becomes clear to him that the way of salvation can not be taught, that words and creeds are empty sounds, that each man must find the way by himself, the secret of the experience can not be passed on” (Malthaner 3). He leaves Gotama in order to better find the Self, and in the process becomes a man of no religion, faith, friends, or followers, but solely the Self. Siddhartha stumbles upon a beautiful courtesan by the name of Kamala. He promises to achieve wealth in order to provide her with money, a luxury he had since given up to become a Samana. Siddhartha enlists Kamaswami as his mentor and works for him as a merchant, and over the course of many years loses himself to greed. Realizing this, he flees…

    • 2170 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha Essay

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Siddhartha, in the awakening, learns that the life of pleasure isn’t always the best life. In fact the life of pleasure can always bring you pain and sometimes more suffering. Siddhartha had to learn that the hard way because he felt disgusted in himself of what he had become. Just as Siddhartha was about to suicide he heard a voice. He heard the ancient holy word “Om”. Just from that word his whole life changed. Siddhartha also learned that there was more to the world then having pleasure and goods and that that the world was a beautiful piece of work. Siddhartha learned from the river who he really was and that he shouldn’t just give up because of a mistake, Siddhartha learned that he has to learn from it and take his mistake as an experience. The only way to succeed in life is to have experiences and learn from your mistakes. Although Siddhartha learned something from the river, he still needs to learn more and he does as he meets the ferry man. Siddhartha learned to love the river and treat the river with respect. The river saved him from his death and Siddhartha shall be with the river at all times. The river taught him how to become patient again and helped him awaken from his bad period of time. The river was also Siddhartha’s turning point in because Siddhartha was about to give up and just throw away his goal but he realized his mistake and became a new Siddhartha. The river was a similar to a teacher, it taught Siddhartha more and more about the world so much that his knowledge on the world expanded even more. Siddhartha took things more serious because everything the river taught him, he didn’t judge like his old teachers, he listened and trust the river’s knowledge.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Siddhartha walked through the forest. He had the feeling that they could never go back to his hometown. Internally, he totally died inside. He was feeling embarrassed and very depressed. At last, he reached a river. It was very dangerous and full of snakes but it was looked like his destination, as he could only face death after that destination. He wanted to suicide. According to him, he had left with nothing. He wanted to jump into the river. After some time, he slept when he woke up, he saw a man present there. He realized that man was Govinda. Govinda could not recognize him and stayed with Siddhartha because he wanted to save him from that dangerous area but he did not want to wake him up. Siddhartha thanked him and asked him about his…

    • 1072 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays