Gita 2.41

Sadhak: "Guru, is Krishna saying that intelligent people should think less? That we should stop questioning and just follow blindly?"

Guru: "Not at all. The vyavasāyātmikā buddhi questions and thinks intensely—but in service of a settled purpose. A scientist committed to understanding cancer thinks endlessly about the disease, questions every assumption, explores every lead—but all this thinking is unified by the commitment. The problem is not thinking; it is thinking without center, branching without trunk."

Sadhak: "But how can we settle on one direction when we do not yet know all the options? Wouldn't it be foolish to commit before exploring?"

Guru: "This is precisely the trap Krishna is describing. The mind says, 'I will commit once I have all the information.' But information is endless—bahu-śākhā, ananta. There will never be a moment when the irresolute mind has enough data to commit. The commitment must come first, from a deeper place than information. Then information serves the commitment rather than endlessly deferring it."

Sadhak: "What determines this deeper commitment? If it is not based on information, is it arbitrary?"

Guru: "It is based on something deeper than information but not arbitrary—it is based on being, on what you sense you are here for, on the still voice beneath the noise of preferences and fears. Call it intuition, call it dharma, call it the heart's knowing. Every person has it; few trust it. The Gita will develop this theme: action aligned with one's svadharma, one's own nature and purpose."

Sadhak: "The branches are called 'endless.' Is Krishna exaggerating for effect?"

Guru: "Try an experiment. Pick any significant life decision and start listing all considerations. You will find each consideration raises further considerations. Should I take this job? Consider salary—but what is enough salary? That depends on lifestyle—but what lifestyle do I want? That depends on values—but which values matter most? Every answer spawns questions. The branching is genuinely infinite. Only a prior commitment can stop the recursion."

Sadhak: "I know people who seem determined but in wrong directions—fanatics, zealots. Is their buddhi also vyavasāyātmikā?"

Guru: "The form may be similar; the substance is different. True determination in the Gita's sense is connected to dharma, to the real. Fanaticism is determination attached to ego, to fear, to the need to be right. You can distinguish them by their fruits: true determination brings peace even in difficulty; fanaticism brings agitation even in success. True determination is open to learning; fanaticism is closed."

Sadhak: "How does one move from the many-branched state to the one-pointed state?"

Guru: "By suffering enough from the branching. Most people oscillate until the oscillation itself becomes intolerable. Then they are ready to commit—not because they have solved all questions but because they recognize the questions will never end. This is spiritual exhaustion turned into grace: the mind finally willing to stop splitting."

Sadhak: "Is the single point always the same for everyone, or does it vary?"

Guru: "The deepest point is the same—the Self, the Divine, the Ground of Being. But the access point varies according to temperament and circumstance. For one person, it is devotion; for another, knowledge; for another, service. Krishna will describe all these paths. What matters is that the person finds their access point and commits—then all branches grow from and return to a single root."