Why Does Vasudeva Teach Siddhartha

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Vasudeva does not teach Siddhartha but guides him towards personal wisdom. There are several reasons that explain this Vasudeva's role. To begin with, Vasudeva does not consider himself as a teacher, he credits all knowledge he has to the river. For example, he says that Siddhartha will learn more things from the river, but he does not recall what things. Siddhartha will need to get it through own perception and experience. In addition, he leads by example demonstrating new skill to Siddhartha. To illustrate this point, Vasudeva demonstrates his listening virtue, when he gives his attention to Sddhartha's life story without interruption and judgments. More importantly, Vasudeva knows how to wait till Siddhartha find the answers himself, and lets him make own conclusions. In the chapter "The Ferryman," Siddhartha asks Vasudeva a question concerning time and Vasudeva answers, " Is this what you mean? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere, and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, nor the shadow of the future?" (Hesse 87). This passage illustrates how Vasudeva does not presents his ideas and his experience, but asks Siddhartha questions, and allows him to find the answers and wisdom alone. …show more content…

This proves that Vasudeva allows Siddhartha to get his experience firsthand and gently guiding to the source of the wisdom. Therefore, Vasudeva is not a teacher to Siddhartha, merely he is a

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