Chariot & the Charioteer: Mastering the Self

The Chariot Meaning

An image that recurs across religions to symbolize the challenges and importance of maintaining and taking mental health seriously is that of the chariot. Driving a chariot beautifully symbolizes mastering the self. Just as a charioteer, meaning a chariot driver,  must tame their horses, so too must we tame our minds to be able to truly flourish. In this context, one can define charioteer as their mind.

Stories and parables about chariots and the ways their components correspond to the human mind abound across religions and cultures.

Chariots in History and Parables

Chariots were likely first invented in ancient Mesopotamia and subsequently moved to other ancient cultures. In Judaism, the Merkabah (throne or chariot) story of Ezekiel’s encounter with God became the focus of contemplation for a strain of Jewish mysticism.

The most remarkable book in the Hindu tradition, the Bhagavad Gita, takes place on a chariot, where a prince called Arjuna learns the secrets of mastery over life from his charioteer, Krishna. In this powerful metaphor, the chariot is the human body, the charioteer is intelligence, the five horses are the senses. Only when the senses are reined in, with the help of a disciplined mind, will the chariot carry its owner to his proper journey?

Whenever I fly into or out of Bali—the only part of Indonesia that remains predominantly Hindu—I always take a moment to admire the imposing statue of Krishna in a chariot with Arjuna. Like the story it represents, the statue has a dual meaning—outwardly an expression of nobility and military glory, its deeper meaning has more to do with conquest of the mind than conquest on the battlefield.

In 2022, the theme of Mental Health Awareness Week is “loneliness,” something that has become a source of mental stress for many people across the world due to the lockdowns and other isolating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Let this week and this month be a reminder to take mental health—yours and that of others—seriously, but also a reminder of the importance of love for human flourishing. And let the chariot be another reminder of these same themes and the many other common themes that unite all religions and humanity as a whole.

Chariot Symbolism Across Different Religions

Christianity

“The axle of the wheels of the chariot of Providence is Infinite Love, and Gracious Wisdom is the perpetual charioteer.”—Charles Suprgeon, Christian Baptist preacher