# Siddhartha — Character guide

> Key figures in Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.

- [Siddhartha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/siddhartha.md): Siddhartha begins as the admired son of a Brahmin, then leaves home with Govinda to become a fasting Samana, and later a wealthy merchant in the city. He is driven by a restless refusal to accept secondhand wisdom, even 
- [Govinda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/govinda.md): Govinda is the loyal companion of Siddhartha's youth, the one who follows him into the Samanas and then into Gotama's grove, content to belong where Siddhartha must stand alone. His devotion is both his gift and his limi
- [Vasudeva](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/vasudeva.md): Vasudeva lives simply by the water, ferrying travelers across and asking nothing of them, and he takes Siddhartha in when the merchant's life collapses. His wisdom is not doctrine but attention: he listens to the river's
- [Kamala](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/kamala.md): Kamala is the most desired woman in the city, sharp, self-possessed, and clear-eyed about the price of everything, and she agrees to teach Siddhartha the arts of love and business. She sees through him early, telling him
- [Gotama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/gotama.md): The historical Buddha, whom Siddhartha and Govinda meet; Siddhartha reveres him but chooses his own path.
- [Kamaswami](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/kamaswami.md): A wealthy merchant who employs Siddhartha and teaches him business.
- [The Samanas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/samanas.md): A group of ascetic wanderers with whom Siddhartha and Govinda live for a time.

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