When Siddhartha approaches the river the second time in his life, after enjoying all the worldly pleasures of wealth, love, power, he is deeply attracted to it, he is enchanted by it. He says “Love this river, stay by it……..many secrets, all secrets” on pg 166. Siddhartha wants to learn from the river, he wants to listen to it; he wants to unravel its secrets. Siddhartha is looking towards the river as an abundance of knowledge which he wishes to seek. He believes that by understanding the river’s knowledge, secrets, one can know more about other different things, other secrets, all secrets. The river’s knowledge is like a gateway to other kinds of knowledge. He has already understood one secret; the river is omnipresent. It flows continuously but it always there. This statement foreshadows that Siddhartha will stay for a longer time by the river, trying to gain more knowledge from it.
Siddhartha meets the ferryman Vasudeva whom he recognises instantly despite the big gap of time. Siddhartha recounts his life to him which Vasudeva listens with intense concentration and attention. Vasudeva tells him “The river has taught……..the other thing too”. Vasudeva, being quite experienced about the river, tells Siddhartha that he will definitely learn much from the river. He says that Siddhartha had already learnt one thing about the river that it is good to seek, to go into depth and this was very good. Vasudeva says “The river knows everything” on pg 170. The river is a universal source of knowledge and it would impart knowledge to Siddhartha since he whished to seek knowledge from it. It would also teach him how to attain nirvana, that which he was so eager to attain.
In the end, after searching so much for nirvana, after living through so much, Siddhartha attains salvation in front of the river. Vasudeva helps him to listen deeply to the river after Siddhartha tells him everything, all that he felt, all his wounds, all his sins. Hesse says “His wound was healing……..belonging to the unity of all things” on pg 199. Here, Hesse says that Siddhartha had finally attained nirvana, he had attained his goal, and he had merged his Self into everything. Siddhartha had become a very simple soul, a soul that was everything and not just one thing. Siddhartha’s final step in attaining enlightenment was listening to the river. This shows that the river was the last step for Siddhartha in achieving nirvana; it was the gap he had talked about with the Buddha in his youth days. The river had shown Siddhartha all its secrets; it had imparted to him all its knowledge at that precise moment which turned Siddhartha from a common man to a spiritual soul.
In conclusion, the entire story has a greater meaning to it that is applicable to our present world. The story is not asking us to follow Siddhartha’s way or to spend hours near the river, trying to understand it. The story’s greater meaning is that to achieve any goal, it is us who need to take the path. We may or may not accept teachings; we may or may not reject teachers who are our guides. However, it is our Self that will have to reach its final destination. Our guides, who are experienced, who have walked on the path we are about to take, who are full with knowledge and wisdom can impart all what they to know to us but these can only show the way to attain our goal. It is only us who have to walk the final path of attaining our goal.