Siddharta, the son of a Brahman yearns for understanding, peace, and
enlightenment. Together with his faithful friend
Govinda he leaves home against the wishes of his father and joins the Samanas, a group of forest dwellers known for their severely ascetic ways. Through self-denial, Siddharta masters pain and suffering, able to control his heartbeat, his very breathing, becomes capable of transmigrating into living and inanimate objects, able to experience death and rebirth. But still he is not satisfied, and decides to leave the Samanas in search of the Gotama Buddha, the one who is known to have attained nirvana, the state of
perfection. Thither they go, and Govinda is convinced he has found the true path, but Siddharta feels something is yet lacking despite the Buddha’s perfection, his being the obvious embodiment of peace and contentment. Siddharta goes on in his quest, leaving Govinda who decides to be a disciple of the Buddha. In the city, Siddharta comes to know Kamala, loveliest of courtesans, a prostitute who becomes his teacher and lover. Siddharta learns the worldly ways from Kamala, the pleasures of the flesh. Kamaswami the greedy merchant teaches him how to make money and enjoy the materials comforts it brings. Soon he is transformed - from the Brahman to the Samana to the lover of lust and riches - but before he is completely lost, Siddharta undergoes an awakening. He forsakes his riches and leaves for the forest where he is found by Govinda, still a Buddha follower. Siddharta decides to live by the riverbank with Vasudeva, the old ferryman whom he had met years before, and the quiet man teaches him many things, great truths, by simply listening to the voice of the river. Kamala, who had become pregnant and given birth to a child by Siddharta also undergoes a change of heart, donates her garden to the priests and follows the Buddha, but she dies on the journey. Siddharta takes his son to live with him and the old man but he detests him and runs away, leaving Siddharta broken-hearted. By listening to the river, Siddharta comes to realize that his life-long quest has been spent running around in circles, that the understanding he had sought was well within his grasp if he only had the patience to see them, to perceive them. He comes to recognize love as the most important thing, that wisdom cannot be taught, that one need not look far to find the meaning of life, but to look upon all beings with love and admiration and great respect, to listen to the voice of Om, which is the greatest perfection, the road to oneness.