Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 2, Verse 41
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन।
बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम्।।
बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम्।।
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-śākhā hyanantāś ca buddhayo ’vyavasāyinām
also searched as "vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana"
Translation
In this (Karma Yoga), O Arjuna, the resolute mind is single-pointed; the minds of the irresolute are multi-branched and endless.
Vāṇi's rendering
The resolute mind points one way. The irresolute mind splits into endless branches, and scatters.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| व्यवसायात्मिकाvyavasāya-ātmikā | made of resolve; having decision as its very substance |
| बुद्धिःbuddhiḥ | the discerning mind, the intellect (appears as buddhir before the following vowel) |
| एकाekā | one, single, undivided |
| इहiha | here, in this path of action (joined with ekā as ekeha) |
| कुरुनन्दनkuru-nandana | O delight of the Kurus — Arjuna |
| बहुशाखाःbahu-śākhāḥ | having many branches, forking in all directions |
| हिhi | indeed, for |
| अनन्ताःanantāḥ | without end, unlimited in number |
| चca | and |
| बुद्धयःbuddhayaḥ | the thoughts, the many minds or notions |
| अव्यवसायिनाम्avyavasāyinām | of the unresolved, of those who never settle on one thing |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 41 mean?
It means a mind that has decided moves as one thing, while a mind that has not decided keeps multiplying possibilities. Krishna is not praising stubbornness. He is describing what resolve feels like from inside: quiet, singular, finished with argument. The unresolved mind is not idle — it is crowded, and the crowd never thins.
Vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana — what is the meaning of this line?
Vyavasāyātmikā buddhi is an intellect whose very substance is decision. Ekā — one. Krishna addresses Arjuna as kuru-nandana, delight of his line, and tells him that on this path there is one settled understanding, not a menu. What is scattered is not the world. It is the looking.
Why does Krishna call the irresolute mind many-branched and endless?
Because indecision has no natural stopping point. Each option grows two more; each doubt seeds another. Bahu-śākhā, many-branched, then anantāḥ, endless — Krishna piles the second word on the first deliberately. You will not think your way to the end of thinking. Only choosing ends it.
How do I become resolute if my mind keeps splitting?
Not by silencing the branches, but by putting weight on one. Resolve in the Gītā is not a feeling that arrives before action; it is what action leaves behind. Pick the duty in front of you, do it without bargaining over results, and notice how much of the forest quietly stops growing.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Count the ways you have imagined this week going. That is the branching. Krishna gives Arjuna a single test for whether a mind is set: does it point, or does it fork? The resolute intellect — vyavasāyātmikā buddhi — is not stronger, only undivided. It has chosen, and the choosing has ended the debate. The scattered mind is not weak either; it is busy, endlessly productive, generating option after option, each one a live branch, none of them walked. Endless, Krishna says — not many, endless. There is no bottom to deliberation. The branches keep growing until you decide to stand on one.