"...you know that gentleness is stronger than severity, that water is stronger than rock, that love is stronger than force. Very good, I praise you. But is it not perhaps a mistake on your part not to be strict with him, not to punish him? Do you not chain him with your love? Do you not shame him daily with your goodness and patience and make it still more difficult for him? Do you not compel this arrogant, spoilt boy to live in a hut with two old banana eaters, to whom even rice is a dainty, whose thoughts cannot be the same as his, whose hearts are old and quiet and beat differently from his? Is he not constrained by all this?"Page 97
Vasudeva is speaking to Siddhartha about his son, who just lost his mother and is now living with them. He fathered this son as a wealthy merchant so the boy was raised accustom to living lavishly with his mother. Siddhartha is troubled by this because he feels unconditional love for his son and wants him to teach him how to live a happy and simple life. Now that Siddhartha sees the error in his ways I think he will take the boy back to his home to let him live with his servants the way he likes. I don't know if Siddhartha will be able to leave his son or handle the life of materials again.
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