Why did Siddhartha decide to remain by the river?

Intrigued by the river's beauty and silent wisdom, Siddhartha decides to stay by the river. Siddhartha soon meets the ferryman Vasuveda who had taken him across the river at the beginning at Part II. Siddhartha soon discloses all his thoughts to Vasuveda who has a remarkable aptitude for listening. He tells Vasuveda his life story up to his recent experience by the river, and Vasuveda entreats him to stay with him.

The two grow together as Siddhartha begins to learn the river's wisdom. Among this wisdom is the unreality of time, which Siddhartha expresses by analogy to reincarnation. As he says, "Siddhartha's previous lives were also not in the past, and his death and his return to Brahma are not in the future. Nothing was nothing will be, everything has reality and presence" (107). Transformed by this wisdom, Siddhartha begins to emulate Vasuveda's demeanor, expressing a contented peace in the routine of daily life. Years pass.