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What the Gītā says about failure

Arjuna asks the question no scripture is supposed to answer: what happens to the one who tries and fails? Not the one who never started — the one who had faith, who practised, whose effort slipped. Does he scatter like a torn cloud, lost between two worlds? Krishna's answer is the most tender thing in the Gītā: no one who does good ever comes to grief. The fallen yogi is not punished. He is born into a home where practise can resume — and his old effort pulls him forward, even against his will. Nothing sincere is wasted. These verses do not promise success. They promise that failure on the right road is not ruin. You are allowed to fall short. The effort still counts. It has always counted.

Verses

2.38
Make pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat the same — then fight. No sin will touch you.
Make victory and defeat the same — then fight, and no sin will touch you
2.48
Act from steadiness, letting attachment go, the same in success and failure. That evenness is yoga.
The same in success and failure — that evenness is yoga, the definition itself
4.22
Content with whatever comes, beyond opposites, without envy, equal in success and failure — acting, yet unbound.
Equal in success and failure, without envy — acting, yet unbound
6.6
Master yourself and your self is your friend. Fail, and it turns on you like an enemy.
Master yourself and the self is your friend; fail, and it turns on you like an enemy
6.25
Little by little, grow still. Hold the understanding steady, rest the mind in the self, and think of nothing.
Little by little, grow still — the permission to take the long road
6.37
What of the one with faith whose effort slips — who falls from the path before reaching its end?
What of the one whose effort slips — who falls from the path before reaching its end?
6.38
Fallen from both worlds, does he simply scatter like a torn cloud — lost, with nothing to stand on?
Fallen from both worlds, does he scatter like a torn cloud — lost, with nothing to stand on?
6.40
Neither in this world nor beyond is such a one destroyed. No one who does good ever comes to grief.
Krishna's answer: no one who does good ever comes to grief — neither here nor beyond
6.41
The fallen yogi dwells long in the worlds of the good, then is born into a pure and blessed home.
The fallen yogi is born into a pure home where practise can resume
9.31
Even the worst sinner turns righteous quickly and finds lasting peace. Declare it boldly: no one who loves me is lost.
No one who loves me is lost — declare it boldly, the promise covers even the worst
18.26
The doer who is free of clinging and of 'I,' steady, eager, unchanged by success or failure — is clear.
Unchanged by success or failure, steady, eager, free of 'I' — the clear doer