The image of the chariot with Lord Krishna holding the reins and Arjuna seated is a picture imprinted on our minds forever. Its metaphorical of life and how we need to deal with it – here I attempt a short read with clues to unearth meaning from the picture. I hope you benefit from it. I would be keen to hear from you.
This is a picture which is imprinted in every Indian’s mind. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words and this one is worth a million or more.
I shall briefly write what this picture represents and leave you with a couple of questions to reflect upon because upon contemplation on these would you able to derive your meaning.
1. Chariot: The chariot is your physical body
2. Arjun: The passenger is you
3. The Horses: The horses are the five Senses, through which we engage with the external world by perception and action.
4. The Reins: The reins are the manas loosely translated as the mind (in English) through which the senses receive their instructions to act and perceive.
5. Lord Krishna: The charioteer (in the picture) is the ‘buddhi’ the discerning intellect which can discern between the good and bad, right and wrong.
Imagine what happens if the reins are not able to control the senses – they would run after whatever they take a fancy to –the snooze button on the early morning alarm, the extra helping you could do without at dinner, TV shows on Netflix & Amazon and the list can go on.
Who has control over the reins? It is the charioteer or our ‘buddhi’ i.e. intellect. Only the intellect can control the reins and thus direct the horses in the right direction to carry the chariot forward to its destination.
If not controlled, the chariot (body) takes a beating, the horses (senses) get tired, the reins (mind)) get worn, and the charioteer (Intelligence) gets lazy. The passenger (you) is completely ignored.
Questions for you to contemplate on?
a) Is your chariot (body) going in the direction you want?
b) Which are the senses that are going amuck? Are you eating / speaking, watching, listening, consuming the wrong things?
c) What is your manas (mind) saying to the horses – why is it letting it loose? What is the defeatist self-talk that your mind is doing to justify the wrong doing of the senses?
d) How will you train your buddhi (intellect) to take charge?
So all the best for putting the charioteer back on the job.
The solution to the problem is to retrain the charioteer (Intelligence) to pick up the reins (mind) and start giving some direction to the horses (senses).
P.S. – And this is not my interpretation – the Kathopanishad in facts says explicitly ~
आत्मानँ रथितं विद्धि शरीरँ रथमेव तु ।
बुद्धिं तु सारथिं विद्धि मनः प्रग्रहमेव च ॥ ३ ॥
Know the atman (soul) as the lord of the chariot, the body as only the chariot, know of intelligence as the charioteer; know the minds as the reins.
