Siddhartha (novel)

Siddhartha

First-edition cover
Author	Hermann Hesse
Original title	Siddhartha: Eine Indische Dichtung
Language	German
Genre	Philosophical fiction
Publisher	S. Fischer Verlag
Publication date	1922, 1951 (U.S.)
Publication place	Germany
Pages	152
OCLC	9766655
Dewey Decimal	833.912

Siddhartha: An Indian novel (German: Siddhartha: Eine Indische Dichtung; German: [ziˈdaʁta] ^ⓘ) is a 1922 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 United States in 1951 by New Directions Publishing and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated the first part of it to the French writer Romain Rolland and the second part to Wilhelm Gundert, his cousin.

The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in the 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".^[1] 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".