📿 Shloka Collection

Vyavasayatmika Buddhih

Gita 2.41 Bhagavad Gita
📖 Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 — Sankhya Yoga
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन ।
बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम् ॥
Vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha Kurunandana
Bahushakha hyanantash cha buddhayo vyavasayinam
व्यवसायात्मिका
resolute, decisive
बुद्धिः
intellect, understanding
एका
one, single
इह
here, on this path
कुरुनन्दन
O joy of the Kurus (Arjuna)
बहुशाखाः
many-branched
अनन्ताः
endless
बुद्धयः
intellects, thoughts
अव्यवसायिनाम्
of the irresolute

A person who has made up their mind moves like an arrow — one direction, one target, full force. Their intellect is unified. But a person who has not decided keeps branching into endless possibilities — should I do this, should I try that, maybe the other thing — and their energy scatters like water spilled on sand.

Krishna draws a vivid contrast here. The resolved mind is 'eka' — one. The unresolved mind is 'bahushakha' — many-branched — and 'ananta' — endless. One is a river flowing in a single channel, deep and powerful. The other is a delta splitting into a hundred shallow streams, none of which reaches the sea with any force.

This applies far beyond the battlefield. A student who commits to one subject and studies it deeply learns more than one who samples ten subjects and commits to none. A gardener who tends one patch well grows more than one who scatters seeds everywhere and tends nothing. Resolution is not stubbornness — it is the disciplined choice to go deep rather than wide.

This shloka introduces the concept of Buddhi Yoga — the discipline of the intellect. The single most important requirement for Karma Yoga is a resolved, focused mind. Without it, even the best intentions scatter.

The next three shlokas (2.42-2.44) illustrate what 'many-branched intellect' looks like in practice: people who chase heavenly pleasures through elaborate rituals, missing the deeper purpose of the teachings.

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