be grounded, be realistic

चलत्येकेन पादेन तिष्ठत्येकेन पण्डितः। 

नासमीक्ष्यापरं स्थानं पूर्वमायतनं त्यजेत्॥ 

हितोपदेशे॥ 

calatyekena pādena tiṣṭhatyekena paṇḍitaḥ| 

nāsamīkṣyāparaṁ sthānaṁ pūrvamāyatanaṁ tyajet|| 

hitopadeśe|| 

A diligent human being always seeks stability and continuity.. and would seek progress only within such a framework.. Usually for us a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. So we tend to place our feet held fast to the firm earth... or terra firma. Our body is crafted in such a way that we can move ahead with one leg only if we have the other leg anchored to the ground.. Only birds, insects or aeroplance can fly free on air… Perhaps even flying beings use the air cushion as a foundation 

The Subhashitam from Hitopadesham quoted above reiterated that view

The meaning is 

A learned person moves ahead with one leg while he is standing firm on the other leg. One should never leave his former abode without considering in detail the suitability of the place to which he is intending to move and where he would love to settle..

Of course some sense of adventure may be attractive... and such adventure might help us in a world of competition.. But we can never afford to overlook the basics. Safety first, and adventure with safety in sight seems to be the best choice.

word analysis

पण्डितः a learned person
एकेन with one
पादेन leg
चलति moves
एकेन with one
पादेन leg
तिष्ठति च stands too
अपरं another
स्थानं places
असमीक्ष्य seeing, ensuring,
पूर्वं former
आयतनं abode
न त्यजेत् should not leave.

ചലത്യേകേന പാദേന തിഷ്ഠത്യേകേന പണ്ഡിത:

നാസമീക്ഷ്യാപരം സ്ഥാനം പൂര്‍വമായതനം ത്യജേത്

ഹിതോപദേശത്തില്‍ നിന്ന്

വിവരമുള്ളവന്‍ തന്റെ ഓര്‍ പാദം കൊണ്ടു നടക്കുമ്പോള്‍ മറ്റേ കാല്‍ കൊണ്ടു ഉറച്ചു നില്‍ക്കുന്നു. എത്തിപ്പെടാനുള്ള വേറൊരു സ്ഥാനത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് കൃത്യമായ വീക്ഷണവും പ്രതീക്ഷയും ഇല്ലാതെ ഒരാള്‍ താന്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞുപോകുന്ന സ്ഥാനം വിട്ടു പോകരുത്