ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കാര്യത്തിനിടയിൽ ചേനക്കാര്യം”
— English Translation:
Bringing up the price of yams in the middle of trading elephants. (Interrupting weighty, momentous matters with trivial irrelevancies.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനയുടെ യുദ്ധം ഉറുമ്പിനു മരണം”
— English Translation:
When elephants clash in battle, it is the ants beneath their feet that perish. (When powerful titans collide, the small, innocent bystanders pay the ultimate price.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കു അരക്കോൽ, അരചനുക്കു മുക്കോൽ, അറിവില്ലാ നാരിക്കുറുപത്തിരുക്കോൽ”
— English Translation:
Half a rod controls an elephant, three rods guide a king, but forty-two rods are needed for an obstinate fool. (The wise and mighty require gentle guidance, while stubborn ignorance yields only to extreme correction.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനയും ആടും പോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like an elephant and a goat. (A laughable, extreme mismatch in size, capability, and strength.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കു കുതിര തെരിക”
— English Translation:
Using a horse as a head-cushion for an elephant's load. (An absurdly inadequate and mismatched remedy for a colossal burden.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനയെ കാണ്മാൻ വെള്ളെഴുത്തുണ്ടൊ”
— English Translation:
Does one need glasses to spot an elephant? (You do not need sharp scrutiny to recognize what is glaringly obvious.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കുമണികെട്ടേണ്ടാ (ആനക്കുട്ടിക്കെന്തിനുകൊടമണി)”
— English Translation:
An elephant needs no bell to announce its arrival. (True greatness and immense power command instant recognition without loud fanfare.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനയെ തളച്ചാൽ മരത്തിനാണു് കേടു”
— English Translation:
If you tether a mighty elephant, it is the tree that suffers the strain. (Subjecting an ordinary institution or frail individual to an overwhelming force destroys the host.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കു കൊമ്പുഘനമൊ”
— English Translation:
Are its own tusks ever too heavy a burden for the elephant? (One's natural duties, innate talents, and family obligations are never an unbearable load.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനവായിലമ്പഴങ്ങാപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like a tiny wild plum tossed into an elephant’s gaping mouth. (A drop in the ocean; an offering utterly inadequate to satisfy a massive need.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കു പന ചക്കര”
— English Translation:
To an elephant, an entire palm tree is as easy to devour as a lump of jaggery. (What appears intimidating or impossible to ordinary people is effortless to the powerful.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനയെ വിലയാക്കിവിറ്റാൽ കയറിനെന്തുപിശകുന്നു”
— English Translation:
Once you have sold off the whole elephant, why haggle over the tether rope? (After surrendering a major fortune, it is petty to penny-pinch over negligible accessories.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കൊമ്പും വാഴക്കാമ്പും ശരിയോ”
— English Translation:
Can an elephant's solid ivory tusk be compared to the soft core of a banana stalk? (An absurd comparison between unyielding strength and fragile weakness.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനക്കെതിരില്ല, ആശക്കതിരില്ല”
— English Translation:
Just as an elephant finds no equal, human greed recognizes no boundary. (A rogue force knows no master, and human desire knows no limit.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനചോരുന്നതു അറിയുകയില്ല; കൊതുചോരുന്നതറിയും”
— English Translation:
Failing to notice an elephant slipping through, yet making a fuss over a mosquito. (Straining at a gnat while swallowing a camel; blind to catastrophic blunders while obsessing over trivial details.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
ആനയോടും അരചനോടും അഗ്നിയോടും അംഭസ്സോടും കളിക്കരുതു”
— English Translation:
Never play with an elephant, a monarch, raging fire, or deep waters. (Do not trifle with forces whose power is volatile, uncontrollable, and lethal.)