Shloka 18
देहो रथस्त्विन्द्रियाश्व: संवत्सररयोऽगति: । द्विकर्मचक्रस्त्रिगुणध्वज: पञ्चासुबन्धुर: ॥ १८ ॥ मनोरश्मिर्बुद्धिसूतो हृन्नीडो द्वन्द्वकूबर: । पञ्चेन्द्रियार्थप्रक्षेप: सप्तधातुवरूथक: ॥ १९ ॥ आकूतिर्विक्रमो बाह्यो मृगतृष्णां प्रधावति । एकादशेन्द्रियचमू: पञ्चसूनाविनोदकृत् ॥ २० ॥
deho rathas tv indriyāśvaḥ saṁvatsara-rayo ’gatiḥ dvi-karma-cakras tri-guṇa- dhvajaḥ pañcāsu-bandhuraḥ
Nārada Muni continued: what I called the chariot is truly this body, and the senses are the horses that draw it. Year after year, driven by time’s speed, they run without hindrance, yet there is no real advance. Piety and sin are its two wheels; the three guṇas are its banners; the five life-airs are the jīva’s bondage. The mind is the rein, intelligence (buddhi) the charioteer. The heart is the seat, and dualities such as pleasure and pain are the place of the knot. The seven elements are its coverings; the five working senses are its outward operations; the eleven senses are its army. Thus, absorbed in sense-enjoyment, the jīva seated on the chariot chases mirage-like, false desires, running from birth to birth after the pleasures of the senses.
The entanglement of the living entity in sense enjoyment is very nicely explained in these verses. The word saṁvatsara, meaning “the progress of time,” is significant. Day after day, week after week, fortnight after fortnight, month after month, year after year, the living entity becomes entangled in the chariot’s progress. The chariot rests on two wheels, which are pious and impious activities. The living entity attains a certain position in life in a particular type of body according to his pious and impious activities, but his transmigration into different bodies should not be taken as progress. Real progress is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9) . Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti: one makes real progress when he does not have to take on another material body. As stated in Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Madhya 19.138) :
FAQs
In this verse Nārada explains that the body functions like a chariot driven by time, pulled by the senses, and directed by karma and the three guṇas—showing why the soul should not identify with the body.
Prācīnabarhi was absorbed in fruitive rituals; Nārada used the allegory to awaken detachment and redirect him from karma-centered life toward self-realization and devotion.
Treat the senses as powerful but trainable: regulate habits, avoid needless sense objects, and engage the senses in bhakti (hearing, chanting, serving), so the ‘chariot’ moves toward spiritual freedom instead of bondage.