In yoga, we use the metaphor of Krishna’s chariot (from the Bhagavad Gita, see below) to deconstruct the human personality: The horses that pull the chariot stand for our senses and are restrained by Krishna, the charioteer representing our intellect. The reins are the mind/ego, with the mind closer to the horses and the ego closer to the one who hold the reins; the charioteer. The senses are thus bound to the chariot; our body. But they are controlled by the intellect.
And in the chariot stands the master: Arjuna the Warrior and in the metaphor: the soul, our inner Self. So the intellect is guiding (or controlling) the senses and thus the body by making good use of the ego and the mind:
intellect – ego – mind – senses – body
body – senses – mind – ego – intellect
The Self in order:
- body —> our vessel in this life.
- senses —> connection between the sensations from the outside world and our mind.
- mind —> where things (sensations, feelings) are getting processed.
- ego —> are these sensations from or for me? Or for someone / something else?
- intellect —> supervisor of our life, that which observes and connects and decides.
- soul —> the reason of it all (our inner Self).
- *picture stolen from the internet, Hanuman added just for fun 😉
