The unnamed narrator of A River Sutra is also the protagonist and the observer through whom the reader experiences the stories of the novel. He is a retired bureaucrat who recently lost his wife, and he takes a job overseeing a rest house on the Narmada river to retreat from the world. He views this act as being a direct contrast to his life as a bureaucrat, implying that he used to be both wealthy and powerful. At the rest house, however, the narrator’s job is not stressful or busy, and he spends his days talking to people. He encounters a variety of people from different cultures and lifestyles, and through them, he gains a greater appreciation for people’s beliefs and lived experiences. Though the narrator is often incredulous or confused when he listens to stories, the motif of his confusion is a means by which the novel communicates its intent; the novel explains the stories through other characters’ interactions with the narrator.

The narrator is a hero archetype, in the sense that he is on a quest for enlightenment. In this way, he is like the protagonists of other works, such as Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, which is also set in India.