In Herman Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, there is a complex relationship between the external and the internal worlds and this is much evident in the life of the protagonist Siddhartha. The complexities in his spiritual quest arise from the teachings of Gautama Buddha, who he initially meets and speaks to and who inspires him to become an ascetic and attain nirvana and his inner self that refuses to follow the teachings of one person. When his friend Govinda becomes an ascetic, Siddhartha realizes and tells him friends that each individual experience is different and although a teacher can impart knowledge and show the way, an individual only has to rely on himself to attain nirvana. He says that each individual experience is unique and personal and thus a person has to get on the voyage himself.
When Siddhartha embarks on the quest for nirvana by himself, he realizes that the external world or influence could do very little in guiding him towards what he wants. Although he finds the teachings of Buddha enlightening, he realizes it is his inner self that he needs to listen to before he can let go of everything. Throughout the life of Siddhartha there is a conflict between the external world and his inner world. In his journey to the city to explore life, Siddhartha has to cross a river and does not have enough money to pay Vasudeva, the boatman. Vasudeva however tells him that he would come back one day to pay him. Siddhartha reaches the city to find Kamala, the most beautiful woman he has met. But in order to have her, he must become rich. He works for a businessman and eventually makes a lot of money to be with kamala and enjoy worldly pleasures such as sex, drinking and dancing. Siddhartha does it to the extreme. He has the good life. but a few years later, he realizes that in spite of all the money and pleasures, he still has not attained nirvana. The extremes of being an ascetic and being a person of the world has not helped him and he leaves everything behind in his quest for nirvana again. It is on his second spiritual quest that he meets vasudeva again. With Vasudeva, Siddhartha explores his spiritual journey again. listening to the wisdom of the boatman as well as the river, Siddhartha reconciled himself to his new life. He eventually finds nirvana- a stillness of the mind without desires and problems. Siddhartha’s journey towards nirvana is accomplished through his inner self. Although the external world plays a part, they remain catalysts towards his understanding of the world. It is his inner world that eventually leads him to the path of nirvana. This is in contrast to the life of his friend Govinda. although Govinda is the first to renounce worldly life, he is forever dependent on the external world to guide him and teach him. He always needs a teacher or a mentor to tell him what to do or show him the path. Siddhartha on the other hand follows his heart, listens to his inner self and experiments on his own. The external world is not discarded straight away. Rather it is lived, experienced and experimented with to finally give space to the inner world to make decisions. Although Nirvana is attained by eschewing the external world, the path to nirvana is an equal mixture of both. The inner self of an individual can never know what is being left behind unless the external is known. Not knowing about the external through an individualistic pursuit only results in a dependence on others. The Buddha, Kamla, Vasudeva and the riches that Siddhartha earns in his life are the external influences from which he learns. He does not blindly follow the teachings of Buddha and neither is he influenced by the calmness of vasudeva to make a life altering decision. Kamala too makes him change his life to an extent. Siddartha does not fight the external world. Rather he soaks up everything it has to offer. The external world to him is but a classroom where he learns the lessons of life. It is this world that teaches him what he wants in life and it is finally by contrasting the eternal world and his inner world that he attains peace and nirvana.
In the novel, the relationship between the external and the internal world are not mutually exclusive. Although complex and complicated, they are part of the road to nirvana. There are influences and teachings from the external world that affects an individual and only by dealing with the demons of the external world does an individual attain inner peace. Eschewing the external world does not end in the realization of nirvana or inner peace. As the life of Govinda tell the reader, an individual’s path to nirvana is complete only with an unique and personal search between the external and individual worlds. It takes the inner self to understand the external world and make sense out of it. Finally however, in spite of the presence of the external world as a strong influence, it is the inner world that helps attain nirvana. Siddhartha’s final peace does not come from spending time away from the world in the river or through the presence of vasudeva but from his inner self. After seeing for himself what the world has to offer, he finds peace with his life and within himself. The relationship between the external world and the inner world of the individual is not mutually exclusive. The existence of the external world is not being ignored by the protagonist. Instead he lives the worldly life, takes what he can for his spiritual understanding, gives in to his physical needs and finally comes to an understanding of what he really needs. In Siddhartha there is not real conflict between the external world and the inner world of the protagonist. He embraces both with equal abandon. In the end however, he listens to the inner self and abandons the external world and he does it so himself. His experiences become his teacher and the external world a catalyst.
Works Cited
Hesse, Herman. Siddhartha. New York: New Directions. 1951.
