# The Samanas — Siddhartha character guide

> The Samanas in Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** the skinny Samanas, old Samanas

**First appearance:** 0002-part-i-with-the-samanas

## Who they are

A group of ascetic wanderers with whom Siddhartha and Govinda live for a time.

## In the story

### [The Son of the Brahmin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-i-the-son-of-the-brahmin)

Ascetic pilgrims who pass through town. Their aura of intense self-denial and passion inspires Siddhartha's decision to leave his current life.

### [With the Samanas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-i-with-the-samanas)

Represent the ascetic path Siddhartha rejects. Their oldest teacher is shown to be advanced in years but not enlightened, and Siddhartha hypnotizes him to secure their departure.

### [Awakening](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-i-awakening)

Referenced as a caste Siddhartha no longer belongs to, highlighting his complete break from asceticism.

### [Kamala](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-ii-kamala)

Referenced as Siddhartha's past life. He credits them with teaching him the disciplines of thinking, waiting, and fasting, which he now applies to worldly aims.

### [With the Childlike People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-ii-with-the-childlike-people)

Referenced as the group Siddhartha came from. Their teachings of fasting, waiting, and thinking give him an advantage in the merchant's world and define his detached viewpoint.

### [Sansara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-ii-sansara)

Their teachings of asceticism, thinking, and fasting initially guide Siddhartha's life in the world but are slowly submerged and forgotten.

### [By the River](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-ii-by-the-river)

Recalled by Siddhartha as a phase where he tried to kill his self through fasting and penance, a self that only retreated and grew.

### [The Son](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/chapters/part-ii-the-son)

Siddhartha sees monks in yellow robes in Kamala's garden, which triggers a recollection of his own past as a young Samana.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters/samanas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/siddhartha_se/characters