Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 41

व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन । बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम्

vyavasāyātmikā buddhirekeha kurunandana | bahuśākhā hyanantāśca buddhayo'vyavasāyinām

Translation

Here, O son of Kuru, there is one thought of a resolute nature. Many-branched and endless are the thoughts of the irresolute.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

vyavasāyātmikā

determination, soul, whose, she

buddhiḥ

thought

ekā

one

iha

here

kurunandana

of the Kurus, O rejoicer

bahuśākhāḥ

many, branches, whose, those

hi

indeed

anantāḥ

endless

ca

and

buddhayaḥ

thoughts

avyavasāyinām

of the irresolute

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

In this path of Yoga there is but one resolute (vyavasāyātmikā) thought, single-pointed, fixed on the goal of mokṣa. The thoughts of the irresolute (avyavasāyinām) — those whose minds are scattered after the manifold ends of the world — are many-branched and endless, having no single guiding aim. Wherever there is a unitary thought directed to a single aim, there is real conviction.