Now Yama introduces the imagery of the chariot. “The atman is the master of the chariot and the body is the chariot. Know the intellect, buddhi as the charioteer and the mind manas as the reins. The sense organs, they say, are the horses and the sense objects are roads they travel over. They call the atman the “enjoyer” or “experiencer” when It is united with the body, senses and the mind.
The imagery of the chariot is also used by Plato in his Phaedrus but the usage there is different. Plato’s chariot has only two horses and we leave it to the reader to discern how it differs from Yama’s chariot.
Yama continues, “For him who is devoid of understanding, with a mind not disciplined, the sense organs become uncontrolled like the unruly horses of the chariot. He does not reach the goal but returns to the world of birth and death again. But he who has proper understanding, mind under control, ever pure, reaches the goal.”