Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 5: Renunciation in Action

Bhagavad Gita 5.17

tadbuddhayastadātmānastanniṣṭhāstatparāyaṇāḥ | gacchantyapunarāvṛttiṃ jñānanirdhūtakalmaṣāḥ ||

With their understanding fixed on that, their whole self set on that, grounded in that and wholly devoted to that, their impurities washed away by knowledge, they go to the state from which there is no return.

Modern context

Four words describe complete commitment: the understanding, the heart, the foundation and the final aim are all given to one thing. In any field this is how depth is reached. A divided person who is half committed in several directions gets some distance in each and arrives nowhere. The verse describes the highest aim, but the principle is general. What we give our whole selves to is what we become.