ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടശ്ശാർക്കുമുറിഞ്ഞാൽ കോരശ്ശാർക്കു ധാരയൊ”
— English Translation:
If Kandassari gets wounded, should Korassari receive the healing medicated oil pour? (Absurdly misdirecting treatment, compensation, or penalty to someone who has no connection to the affliction.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കതിരുകണ്ട പഞ്ഞം”
— English Translation:
Famine witnessed while standing amidst the grain stalks. (Deprivation and starvation occurring right in the midst of potential abundance due to heavy exploitation or unpayable debt.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടം കൊണ്ടവനേ പിണ്ടം വെക്കൂ”
— English Translation:
Only the one who inherited the paddy field will offer the ancestral rice cakes. (Obligations and solemn duties fall upon whoever reaps the inheritance and property.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണൊടുകൊള്ളേണ്ടത് പുരികത്തോടായിപ്പോയി”
— English Translation:
What was destined to strike the eyeball ended up merely grazing the brow. (Suffering only a slight injury where catastrophic, crippling damage was imminent.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടാലറിയാം കൊണ്ടാൽ കൊടുക്കുന്നതു”
— English Translation:
A single look reveals whether he will return what he borrows. (A person’s character and reliability are plainly evident in their demeanor.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടാൽ ചന്തം വായില്പോകയില്ല”
— English Translation:
Gorgeous to the eye, but impossible to swallow. (Superficial, dazzling charm that offers zero substance, practical utility, or nourishment.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടാൽ നല്ലത് കാര്യത്തിന്നാകാ”
— English Translation:
Splendid to behold, but useless for actual work. (Purely ornamental; pleasing on display, but failing utterly when put to a functional test.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണക്കപ്പിള്ളയുടെ വീട്ടിൽ കരിക്കലും പൊരിക്കലും ധൃതി; കണക്കെടുത്തു നോക്കുമ്പോൾ കരച്ചിലും വിളിച്ചിലും ധൃതി”
— English Translation:
In the clerk’s kitchen, frantic roasting and frying; but when the accounts are audited, frantic wailing and weeping. (Living lavishly on illicit or unmonitored funds leads straight to ruin when the inevitable day of reckoning arrives.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടാൽ കളി കണ്ടില്ലെങ്കിൽ കാര്യം”
— English Translation:
A harmless joke if caught in the act, but serious theft if unnoticed. (An opportunist who disguises underhanded crimes as playful pranks whenever caught.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണക്കു പറഞ്ഞാൽ കഞ്ഞിക്കു പറ്റില്ല”
— English Translation:
If you insist on rigid accounting, you will not have enough to brew simple porridge. (Hyper-exacting calculation destroys the spirit of hospitality and mutual goodwill.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടിമുഖത്തു മീൻ അടുത്തപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like fish crowding into the narrow breach of the dike. (Flocking blindly into a bottleneck or trap where capture is effortless and certain.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണക്കു വിട്ടാൽ പിണക്കു വരും”
— English Translation:
Abandon proper accounts, and bitter quarrels will surely follow. (Clear accounts preserve friendships; financial ambiguity breeds distrust and conflict.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടിയിരിക്കെ മതിൽ തുള്ളരുതു”
— English Translation:
When an open gate exists, do not leap over the high perimeter wall. (Do not take unnecessary, hazardous shortcuts when an open, legitimate route lies right before you.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണിശൻ ഇനിക്കു മുമ്പെ പേർ വിളിച്ചു”
— English Translation:
The rigid stickler called the roll before the appointed hour had even arrived. (Petty tyrants take malicious delight in enforcing premature penalties against others.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ണൻവാഴച്ചുവട്ടിൽ കാളിവാഴയുണ്ടാകുമൊ”
— English Translation:
Will a coarse, inferior plantain ever sprout from the base of a prime Kannan banana tree? (Noble parents yield noble progeny; quality and character breed true to their origins.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കണ്ടതിലോഹരി എടുത്താൽ വെന്തതിലോഹരി തിന്നാം”
— English Translation:
If you take your share in whatever work is seen, you may take your share in whatever is cooked. (He who does not work shall not eat; contribute to the labor if you wish to share the feast.)