Words Well Worth 46: People Tread A Trodden Path Poem by Aniruddha Pathak

Seeing what an odd man does and how,
Others too imitate it somehow—
Things despicable, vile;
To trodden path men file,
Not to one worth its while,
Scarce to objective things people bow.
______________________________________________________
Transliteration of the subhāśhita along with the meanings of Sanskrit words is given as under:

ekasya karma samvikśhya karoti anyah api garhitam |
gata-anugatikah lokah na lokah pāramārthikah ||

ekasya: someone's, of one person
karma: karma, action, deeds
samvikśhya: seeing, observing
karoti: do/follow
anyah api: even others
garhitam:contemptible, forbidden, vile, despised
gata-anugatikah: gone-going/following, treading a trodden path, servile imitation
lokah: people
na lokah: people (follow)not
pāramārthikah: supreme truth/essence, the right thing to do, objective thing

This verse is from Pancha-tantra

Topic: truth, path