Sanskrit
व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन । बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम् ॥
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kurunandana bahuśākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo'vyavasāyinām
Translation
The determinate Reason is but one-pointed, O joy of the Kurus; many-branched and endless are the thoughts of the irresolute.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The central claim of this whole passage: a resolved mind (buddhi) has a single point of focus, while an unresolved one scatters across endless branching goals. This is the diagnosis Krishna applies directly to the ritual-obsessed in verses 42–44 — not that their aims are evil, but that wanting many things at once is itself a kind of unfocus.
Concepts