Bg 2.41
vyavasayatmika buddhir
ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-sakha hy anantas ca
buddhayo ’vyavasayinam
Word for word:
vyavasaya-atmika — resolute in krishna consciousness; buddhih — intelligence; eka — only one; iha — in this world; kuru-nandana — O beloved child of the Kurus; bahu-sakhah — having various branches; hi — indeed; anantah — unlimited; ca — also; buddhayah — intelligence; avyavasayinam — of those who are not in krishna consciousness.
Translation by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.
Purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada:
A strong faith that by krishna consciousness one will be elevated to the highest perfection of life is called vyavasayatmika intelligence. The Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.62) states:
‘sraddha’-sabde – visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya
krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya
Faith means unflinching trust in something sublime. When one is engaged in the duties of krishna consciousness, he need not act in relationship to the material world with obligations to family traditions, humanity or nationality. Fruitive activities are the engagements of one’s reactions from past good or bad deeds. When one is awake in krishna consciousness, he need no longer endeavor for good results in his activities. When one is situated in krishna consciousness, all activities are on the absolute plane, for they are no longer subject to dualities like good and bad. The highest perfection of krishna consciousness is renunciation of the material conception of life. This state is automatically achieved by progressive krishna consciousness.
The resolute purpose of a person in krishna consciousness is based on knowledge. Vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah: a person in krishna consciousness is the rare good soul who knows perfectly that Vasudeva, or krishna, is the root of all manifested causes. As by watering the root of a tree one automatically distributes water to the leaves and branches, so by acting in krishna consciousness one can render the highest service to everyone – namely self, family, society, country, humanity, etc. If krishna is satisfied by one’s actions, then everyone will be satisfied.
Service in krishna consciousness is, however, best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of krishna, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in krishna consciousness. As such, to be well versed in krishna consciousness one has to act firmly and obey the representative of krishna, and one should accept the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master as one’s mission in life. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows:
yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ’pi
dhyayan stuvams tasya yasas tri-sandhyam
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam
“By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of krishna consciousness. I should, therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master.”
The whole process, however, depends on perfect knowledge of the soul beyond the conception of the body – not theoretically but practically, when there is no longer a chance for sense gratification manifested in fruitive activities. One who is not firmly fixed in mind is diverted by various types of fruitive acts.