तस्येन्द्रियाण्यवश्यानि दुष्टाश्वा इव सारथेः ॥ ५॥
tasyendriyāṇyavaśyāni duṣṭāśvā iva sāratheḥ .. 5..
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Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society
Yas tv avijñānavān bhavaty ayuktena manasā sadā, tasyendriyāṇy avaśyāni duṣṭāśvā iva sāratheḥ (1.3.5). Yas tv avijñānavān bhavaty: The horses of the senses become non-cooperative if a person is unintelligent. Ayuktena manasā sadā: by not having a controlled mind; tasyendriyāṇy avaśyāni: for such a person the indriyas, or the senses, become restive and uncontrolled as uncontrolled horses. Duṣṭāśvā iva sāratheḥ: Sometimes we see horse carriages moving from Rishikesh to Lakshmanjhula. We can observe that the driver drives the cart up to the water tank, and then the horse stops; and if he pushes the horse, it will go backward. The carriage goes backwards into a ditch, and all the occupants have to get down. That is duṣṭāśvā, which means ‘not cooperative’, ‘a non-cooperative thing’.
Kathopanishad – Verse 5 – kathopanishad-1-3-5-yastvavijñā – In Sanskrit with English Transliteration, Meaning and Commentary by Adi Shankaracharya (Sankara Bhashya) – Katha-1-3-5
Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri
This being so, of that driver known as Buddhi, who is not capable of discrimination as to what is to be done or omitted to be done, as the other driver in the guiding of his chariot has a mind like the reins of a chariot not well-grasped by the driver, i.e., uncontrolled by the intellect; of that incompetent driver, i.e., intellect, the senses which stand in the place of the horses become unruly and uncontrollable, as the vicious horses of the other driver.