A question · reflective in mood · a little context helps
“Half-finished striving can feel like total ruin.”
O mighty-armed one, does a person who has fallen from both sides, like a torn cloud, perish without support, deluded on the path of the supreme reality?
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallywhether? · fallen from both sides · torn cloud · like · perishes · without support · O mighty-armed one · deluded · of the supreme reality · on the path
Arjuna asks whether a person who fails in both worldly life and spiritual practice is lost completely, like a torn cloud blown apart.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Dhyana Yoga" (The Yoga of Meditation).
Verse 38 sits in Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita — Dhyana Yoga, "The Yoga of Meditation". The chapter has 47 verses in total.
You quit the job, leave the relationship, or walk away from the old identity — and then fear hits: what if the new path fails and the old one is already gone?
Did you like this verse?
It names the terror of spiritual failure and prepares the mind to seek reassurance beyond success or loss.
What this verse means
Arjuna asks whether a person who fails in both worldly life and spiritual practice is lost completely, like a torn cloud blown apart.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Arjuna is already shaken by the thought of meditation and duty pulling in opposite directions. He asks Krishna whether someone who slips from both worldly support and the path to liberation simply disappears like a broken cloud. This keeps the question open for Krishna's answer.
Why this verse still matters
You quit the job, leave the relationship, or walk away from the old identity — and then fear hits: what if the new path fails and the old one is already gone?
“It is the fear of trying and still losing everything that makes the mind tremble.”
Explore related themes: dhyana yoga (13 verses)