One of the most beautiful images in Indian philosophy is the chariot, found in the Upanishads and echoed in the Bhagavad Gita. It explains very simply how we work inside.
The characters
- The chariot is the body.
- The horses are the senses, eager to run towards whatever attracts them.
- The reins are the mind, which may or may not guide the horses.
- The driver is the intellect, the capacity to discern.
- The passenger is the soul, the deep self, who observes.
- The roads are the objects of the senses.
The message
If the driver is distracted and the reins slack, the horses go where they please and the chariot ends up off the road. If the driver is awake and holds the reins firmly yet gently, the chariot reaches where the passenger wants to go.
Yoga practice trains the driver: learning to direct the mind so the senses don’t drag us along. It isn’t about killing the horses, but guiding them.
Image: Krishna and Arjuna on the chariot, India, 18th–19th century, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
