ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉത്സാഹം പ്രതികർത്തവ്യം”
— English Translation:
Diligent effort is the foremost duty. (One must always strive with vigorous action; enterprise is the duty of man.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉണ്ട വീട്ടിൽ കണ്ടു കെട്ടരുതു”
— English Translation:
Never scheme scandal or dishonor in the house where you have dined. (Breaching the sanctity and trust of a host's home is an unpardonable betrayal.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉണ്ടാലെന്തിനു ഉറിയിൽ കണ്ണു”
— English Translation:
Once you have eaten your fill, why keep your eyes fixed on the hanging pantry pot? (Greedy desire that lingers even after one's needs have been completely satisfied.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉണ്ടു മുഷിഞ്ഞവനൊടു ഉരുളയും കണ്ടു മുഷിഞ്ഞവനൊടു കടവും വാങ്ങണം”
— English Translation:
Ask a rice ball from one weary of feasting, and borrow money from one weary of hoarding wealth. (Approach those with vast surplus who will not feel the loss of giving.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉണ്ടെങ്കിലോണം പോലെ ഇല്ലെങ്കിൽ പട്ടിണി”
— English Translation:
If there is food, feast like it is Onam; if not, starve. (A feast-or-famine existence marked by reckless indulgence in abundance and misery in scarcity.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉണ്ണാതെ ഏതുവീട്ടിലുംപോകാം, ഉടുക്കാതെ ഒരു വീട്ടിലും വയ്യാ”
— English Translation:
You can visit any house without eating, but you cannot enter a single house without wearing clothes. (Dignity and basic decency must be maintained above all else, even in times of deprivation.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉണ്ണിയെക്കണ്ടാൽ ഉരിലെ പഞ്ചം(പഞ്ഞം)അറിയാം”
— English Translation:
Look at the child, and you can tell the famine in the village. (The health and appearance of the vulnerable reveal the true state of the whole community.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഈക്കലിന്മേൽ വെള്ളക്കാ കുത്തിയപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like impaling a heavy unripe gourd on a flimsy broomstick splinter. (A ridiculously precarious, top-heavy arrangement destined to snap under pressure.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഉടയോനെപിടിച്ചു കെട്ടുന്നകാലം”
— English Translation:
An era when the master himself is bound in chains. (A lawless, chaotic time when the natural order is upended and legitimate authority is overthrown by rogue subordinates.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഈററമായൻനേടിയതു ചക്കമായൻതിന്നും”
— English Translation:
What Reed-Mayan earned by his sweat, Jackfruit-Mayan devours in idleness. (One person toils relentlessly to build a fortune, while an idle parasite wastes it away.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഈറെറടുപ്പാൻപോയവൾ ഇരട്ടപെറ്റ”
— English Translation:
The midwife who went to deliver another woman's baby ended up delivering twins of her own. (Going out to help solve someone else's predicament, only to return saddled with double the trouble yourself.)

“”
— English Translation:
One who respects neither Shiva nor Brahma. (An utterly irreverent, recalcitrant rebel who bows before neither divine law nor human authority.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇളനാ കുടിയറികയില്ല, ഇളയപോത്തു വെട്ടറികയില്ല”
— English Translation:
A young tongue knows no restraint in drinking; an untrained young bull knows not how to cut a straight furrow. (Inexperience lacks both self-control and technical mastery.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഈശ്വരാനുഗ്രഹം ശാശ്വതമേവനും”
— English Translation:
Divine grace alone is eternal for mortal man. (Human power and material riches are fleeting; higher providence is the only enduring anchor.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഇളമാൻ കടവറിയാ, മതുമാൻ ഓട്ടംവല്ലാ”
— English Translation:
The tender fawn knows not the river crossing; the crazed stag knows only reckless galloping. (Inexperience is blind to hidden hazards, while blind passion rushes headlong into destruction.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ഈഴം കണ്ടവർ ഇല്ലം കാണുകയില്ല”
— English Translation:
Those who sailed to Eelam (Sri Lanka) never saw their ancestral home again. (Taking high-risk, distant ventures from which few ever return.)