Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 6: The Path of Meditation

Bhagavad Gita 6.38

kaccinnobhayavibhraṣṭaśchinnābhramiva naśyati | apratiṣṭho mahābāho vimūḍho brahmaṇaḥ pathi ||

Fallen from both paths, does such a person not perish like a cloud torn apart, mighty-armed Krishna, with no footing and bewildered on the way to Brahman?

Modern context

The image is vivid: a small cloud breaks away from one bank of clouds, fails to reach the next, and simply dissolves in the open sky. Arjuna fears that a failed seeker is like that, having given up worldly success for the spiritual path and then failed at the spiritual path too, left with neither. Many people feel this when they change direction in life: what if I end up with nothing at all?