Know Thyself

 

“Know the Ātman (the Self) as the lord of the chariot; the body as only the chariot; know also the intellect as the driver; know the mind as the reins.”

— Katha Upanishad, 1.3.3–4

I have always loved this teaching. It is one of the oldest metaphors for the human experience, yet it still feels startlingly accurate. Long before psychology, neuroscience or self-help, the sages understood that the human being is a layered being: a soul, a body, a mind, an intellect,  each with its own role, each needing to be understood if life is to move in the right direction. The Upanishads teach that if the reins are loose, the horses run wild. If the driver is confused, the chariot veers off the road. If the chariot is mistaken for the rider, we forget who we truly are. That’s the real warning of the verse: you are not the vehicle, not the mind’s chatter, not even the intellect’s judgments. You are the one seated inside ,the witness, the awareness, the eternal Self.

And that is where the ancient instruction Know Thyself begins to echo across cultures. Different civilizations, different languages, yet the same truth resurfacing like something held in the human memory since the beginning. The Greeks carved “Gnōthi Seautón” into stone at the Temple of Apollo. The Egyptians inscribed versions of the same teaching across their temple walls. But the Upanishads gave us one of the most intimate maps: if you want to know yourself, you must first know which part of you is driving, which part is reacting, and which part is eternal. Most people spend their entire lives trying to fix the chariot ,the body ,while letting the reins of the mind whip around without discipline. Others over-identify with the driver (the intellect )and confuse analysis with truth. And many have never even met the one riding inside.

When I reflect on this teaching through the experiences that shaped me, the grief, the healing journeys, the sweat lodges, the fire of motherhood, the way ceremony forced me to sit quietly with myself.I see how often life tries to pull you back into the chariot, into the noise and the movement. But the teachings call you inward. They want you to sit with the charioteer, notice the reins, steady the horses, and then go even deeper to recognize the one who has been there all along, unchanged.

Knowing yourself isn’t about personality or preference. It isn’t about labels or roles or even history. It is about recognizing the Self that existed before any of those things were ever handed to you. The Self that exists beneath trauma, beneath resilience, beneath narrative, beneath identity. The Self the Upanishads call Ātman , the quiet presence that witnesses everything but is itself untouched.

And once you truly begin to know that Self, every part of life begins to reorganize. The reins loosen in the right places and tighten in the right places. The horses stop bolting toward every desire or fear. The driver becomes clearer, wiser and less reactive. The chariot moves with purpose instead of confusion. And the one seated inside, you, begins to remember who you were before the world named you.

This is what all the traditions were trying to tell us. Know the Self and the rest will follow. Know the one inside the chariot and the journey becomes yours again. Understanding yourself deeply ,the world will start returning the truth to you,though people ,moments and opportunities that align with who you really are.

~Shanti Freedom Das