Siddhartha is a novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautama Buddha. The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple, lyrical style. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated the first part of it to Romain Rolland[1] and the second part to Wilhelm Gundert, his cousin.
The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (what was searched for), which together means "he who has found meaning (of existence)" or "he who has attained his goals".[2] In fact, the Buddha's own name, before his renunciation, was Siddhartha Gautama, Prince of Kapilavastu. In this book, the Buddha is referred to as "Gotama".[3]
Contents
- 悉達多：主角。《流浪者之歌》（Siddhartha），又譯《悉達多》
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http://www.tomandmarjorie.com/2014/01/book-review-eyes-of-eternal-brother-by.html
“The Eyes of the Eternal Brother” by Stefan Zweig.
The beginning of Zweig’s book includes these two quotes:
Not by avoiding every act are you truly freed from action,You can never be entirely free from action,not even for a moment.-Bhagavad-Gita, 3rd Song
What is action? And what is inaction? -This puzzles even the wise.Because you must pay attention to what you do,and take heed not to do wrong.You must likewise pay attention to what you don’t do-the way of action is unfathomable.-Bhagavad-Gita, 4th Song
The short story by Zweig has an Aesop fable feel to it. Combine Aesop with Hindu wisdom, and you have “The Eyes of the Eternal Brother.” The main character, Virata, is introduced as a man who was known by four names, but then was forgotten by everyone. The reader is introduced to Virata by each of his names- as a succession of experience and growing wisdom- he transforms himself through events that are marked by a vision of his first and life-changing trauma. The trauma is that he kills his brother in combat. He was known as the Sword of Lightning, a great warrior. In loyalty to his king, Virata leads a charge against rebels. He attacks at night and learns in the morning that he had unknowingly killed his brother. His brother’s dying eyes are imprinted into his soul, haunting him as he tries to deal with his grief and regret.
He is rewarded for protecting the kingdom, but he lays down his sword and vows to move forward and do better, live upright. He is given the job of judge and becomes the fairest and most respected judge. His new name: The Fountain of Justice. One day he finds a challenging case, when he sentences someone who allegedly murdered eleven people to eleven years in a prison that is underground in complete darkness. For the first time, the prisoner fights him back and asks Virata how he could know if the punishment was just if he never experienced the punishment himself. As the angry man was carried away to prison, Virata sees his brother’s eyes in the angry eyes of the prisoner. He decides to secretly take the prisoner’s place for a month so that he can experience the punishment and judge more wisely. At first the darkness was calming and enlightening, but then he began to lose his mind. At the end of the month, the prisoner returns and Virata immediately releases all the prisoners.
He is honored for his humility and wisdom, but Virata no longer wants to be a judge as he wants to be free of sin. So he goes home to live a peaceful life of meditation and holiness. He becomes known as the Field of Counsel. People flocked to this sage holy man for advice. After six years of peace, an incident happens when one of his slaves is abused by his sons in punishment for not obeying and working. Virata set the slave free, making a judgment and angering his sons. Once again he sees his brother’s eyes and decides that slavery is wrong and they should all be set free. The sons are angry at their father for upending the household order and way of life. Virata decides that to live the kind of life he was living means to depend on slave labor, and he cannot do that and live without sin, so he leaves to live alone and be self-sufficient.
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Virata then begins his life in solitude and becomes one with the earth and the animals. Someone spots him and sees how the animals are not afraid of him and how he is faithful in prayers and meditation. He becomes known as the Star of Solitude. People begin to follow in his example and live solitary lives of holiness. One day one of the men in solitude had died by natural causes, and so Virata took the body in to town to get help from the villagers in the burial ritual. He gets an angry look from one woman, and learns that her husband left her to live a life of solitude, and she was abandoned to care for her children and home alone. Her children starved to death because of the sudden poverty. Again, Virata sees his brother’s eyes and realizes his life of solitude was a cause for this woman’s grief.
Lastly Virata becomes a servant to the king as a keeper of his dogs- the lowest service position. People forget about him and the dogs loved him, but also forgot about him after he died.
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Virata tries to live a life that does not harm or hurt, a life that is aimed almost as a sacrifice of repentance for his brother’s life. Each new way that he tries, he finds himself hurting someone or something... and in that moment of someone’s pain- he sees his brother’s eyes. Each time he sees the haunting eyes, he makes a dramatic shift, learning with each lesson, and moves forward- hoping not to harm again. Ultimately with each extreme attempt, the man never really finds the final solution to living a clean, perfect life. He dies a servant to dogs, his happiest attempt.
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