ProverbPedia

“ ആടുമേഞ്ഞ കാടുപോലെ”
English Translation:
Like a forest grazed bare by a herd of goats. (A state of complete desolation, stripped down to the bone.)

— Malayalam

Related Mantras

“ ഉരലിനു മുറിച്ചാലെ തുടിക്കു കണകാവു”
English Translation:
Only a log sized for a heavy mortar can yield enough wood for an hourglass drum. (To create something refined and precise, you must start with ample material and capacity.)

“ തൊമ്മനു തൊപ്പിപ്പാളപോയി, ചാണ്ടിക്കു കഴുക്കോൽ പോയി, മുതലാളിക്കു പണമടിശ്ശീലപോയി”
English Translation:
Thomman lost his areca-leaf hat, Chandy lost his rafter-pole, and the master lost his money pouch. (A collective calamity strikes everyone according to their scale: the poor lose humble trifles, while the wealthy lose their fortune.)

“ വീഴുന്ന മൂരിക്കു ഒരുമുണ്ടു കരി”
English Translation:
For an ox that collapses in the furrow, a smear of hearth soot. (Applying crude, superficial folk remedies to an exhausted, broken asset that requires genuine rest and care.)