Book Review: Advait Kottary’s ‘Siddhartha’ is Buddha, served Bollywood-style – Frontline
Within the Buddhist canon, there’s a long-standing custom of narrating the lifetime of the Buddha as a reminder of the truth that Siddhartha was mortal—the concept being, if he can attain enlightenment, so can we. Such works vary from historic masterpieces just like the Lalitavistara Sūtra or Asvaghosa’s Sanskrit epic poem, Budhacharita, to fashionable books like Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha or Arundhati Subramaniam’s The E book of Buddha. Nevertheless, all expectations created by these writings are dashed by Advait Kottary’s novel, Siddhartha, a reimagining of the Buddha’s life that’s merely lots of sturm und drang. If one expects increased intentions to emerge from a studying of the Buddha’s life story, Kottary’s Siddhartha disappoints.
Siddhartha
Hachette India
Pages: 328
Value: Rs.499
What self-awareness the e-book provides is simplistic and awkward: “The Buddha may see how unusual it was for Siddhartha to exit with a bowl in his hand and ask for alms” or “it was like conversing with myself, Guruji. The dialog was countless… however, Guruji, I can not perceive the place this path leads!” Kottary’s Siddhartha emerges from cluelessness and blunders into enlightenment.
Additionally Learn | ‘Vivekananda is the ideological nemesis of the Sangh Parivar’: Govind Krishnan V.
The actual Siddhartha was not a whimsical ascetic drawn by a future he didn’t perceive, as Kottary’s novel would have us imagine. He had 12 sorts of expertise in archery that none of his rivals may boast of, based on Sarabhanga Jataka. Asvaghosa wrote: “He mastered in just a few days the varied sciences appropriate to his standing that took a few years to be taught.” He was proficient in meditative varieties and a skilful instructor whose methodology has stood the check of time.
“Eschewing all nuances, Kottary’s Siddhartha settles for cinematic conclusions, reminiscent of his mom died as a result of her job was performed.”
In Kottary’s novel, nevertheless, Siddhartha arrives at information timid, bumbling, scolded, like a toddler who desires to review music when his dad desires him to be an engineer; he’s solid as a pacifist working away from his personal life and his father’s disappointment. Sure, Suddhodhana, his father, did attempt to dissuade and distract him from the tough path he had chosen. However he by no means overlooked who Siddhartha was to be.
Highlights
- Advait Kottary’s novel, Siddhartha, a reimagining of the Buddha’s life, is merely lots of sturm und drang.
- Kottary’s novel fails to serve up the questions that the Buddha’s life raises.
- If you don’t care overmuch for the Buddha’s teachings, and may make do with the mere plot factors of his life, the novel is a straightforward, visible learn.
Lacking the purpose
The Buddha’s life encourages interrogation, which can also be a key tenet of Buddhist philosophy. The place Kottary’s novel frustrates probably the most is in its failure to serve up the questions that the Buddha’s life raises. Akin to why did he say, “I alone in all of the world am to be honoured”? Hajime Nakamura (1912-99), a Japanese scholar of Indian philosophy who wrote the definitive biography, Gotama Buddha, says that the “I” right here refers back to the supremacy of human beginning and self-determination.

Cowl of Siddhartha
| Photograph Credit score:
By particular association
Or, why did he abandon his spouse and baby? Nakamura factors out that Mahavira, the founding father of Jainism, additionally renounced the householder’s life after having a toddler—this was a follow of the time. Duties held a mendicant again, however Siddhartha’s household was properly taken care of. Renunciation was additionally a stand in opposition to the prevailing Brahminism. Kautilya’s Arthashastra, for instance, forbids homeowners from wandering off. The lifetime of the Buddha reveals deep intentionality and understanding of his social context, nevertheless it requires scholarship to grasp this.
Eschewing all nuances, Kottary’s Siddhartha settles for cinematic conclusions, reminiscent of his mom died as a result of her job was performed. To make Siddhartha’s life about emotionality is to overlook that his life’s work was to realize mastery over feelings. To make his story a story of his attachments is to overlook the core Buddhist instructing: that the basis of all struggling is attachment. Catering to populism, Kottary fills up his novel with mundane love pursuits, royal intrigues, and doubtful particulars, which serve to rob it of the depth that any telling of the Buddha’s life will need to have.
Additionally Learn | Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Artwork showcases the affect of Buddhist artwork on southern India
If you don’t care overmuch for the Buddha’s teachings, and may make do with the mere plot factors of his life, the novel is a straightforward, visible learn. The dialog is bombastic; the moralising, didactic; the feelings, in every single place. The encircling characters are self-important foils to the crown prince’s enlightenment. If you’re on the lookout for a light-weight and breezy reimagining of his life, then right here is the e-book for you.
Gayatri is a therapist, writer, and scholar of the Nalanda grasp’s course in Buddhist philosophy.
Extra tales from this subject
Adblock check (Why?)
COMMents