ProverbPedia

“ ശ്വാവിന്റെവാൽ പന്തീരാണ്ടു കുഴലിൽ ഇട്ടാലും എടുക്കുമ്പോൾ വളഞ്ഞിരിക്കും”
English Translation:
Even if a dog’s tail is kept inside an iron tube for twelve years, it emerges just as curved as before. (Inherent crookedness cannot be straightened; deeply ingrained vices and constitutional flaws resist every attempt at reform.)

“ വേലയില്ലാത്ത അമ്പിട്ടൻ കഴുതയെ പിടിച്ചു ചിരച്ചു”
English Translation:
The barber with no trade caught a donkey and shaved it. (Engaging in absurd, comical, and useless busywork out of sheer idleness.)

“ ശവം ചുട്ടവൻ ചാവു കഴിക്കയില്ല”
English Translation:
He who burned the corpse is excluded from the funeral feast. (The laborer who performs the grim, essential toil is cast aside when honors, rewards, and ceremonial banquets are shared.)

“ വേലിക്കുപുറത്തെ പശുക്കളെ പോലെ”
English Translation:
Like cattle standing outside the protective fence. (Gazing longingly from the outside at forbidden bounty; or feeling marginalized and excluded from privileges.)

“ ശർക്കരകുടത്തിൽ കൈ ഇട്ടാൽ നക്കാതിരിക്കുമൊ”
English Translation:
If you plunge your hand into a jar of jaggery, will you not lick your fingers? (Direct proximity to wealth and sweet opportunity naturally invites temptation, commission-taking, or personal appropriation.)

“ വേലക്കള്ളിക്കു പിള്ള സാക്ഷി”
English Translation:
For the lazy maidservant, the nursing infant is the ready excuse. (An indolent person always points to dependents or petty distractions to justify avoiding hard labor.)

“ ശർക്കര കാണുമ്പോൾ നക്കി നക്കി, ചക്രം കാണുമ്പോൾ വിക്കി വിക്കി”
English Translation:
Eagerly licking when sweet jaggery appears, but stuttering and shrinking when coins must be paid. (Eager and quick to enjoy benefits, but petty, evasive, and reluctant when the time comes to settle the bill.)

“ വേലിതന്നെ വിള തിന്നാലൊ”
English Translation:
What if the very fence devours the standing crop? (When the protector turns predator; betrayal by the guardians, authorities, or laws entrusted with safeguarding the weak.)

“ വേലി പുഞ്ച തിന്നുതുടങ്ങി”
English Translation:
The fence has begun to graze upon the wetland crop. (Systemic institutional corruption; those appointed to protect resources actively pillage them.)

“ വേലി തന്നെ വിതെച്ച പുഞ്ചക്കു വിനാശമൂലം”
English Translation:
The fence itself becomes the cause of ruin for the sown crop. (When protective measures or heavy fortifications end up suffocating and destroying the enterprise they were meant to shield.)

“ വേശ്യ മൂത്താൽ കുരങ്ങു”
English Translation:
When a courtesan grows old, she looks like an ape. (Superficial, cosmetic glamour and sensual allure fade rapidly, leaving behind an unadorned and hollow reality.)

“ വേലിമേൽ കിടന്ന പാമ്പിനെ എടുത്തു കഴുത്തേൽ ചുറ്റി”
English Translation:
Took the snake that was lying quietly upon the fence and wound it around one’s own neck. (Inviting gratuitous, lethal disaster upon oneself by meddling with a dangerous hazard that was causing no harm where it lay.)

“ വൈകുവോളം വെള്ളംകോരി, വൈകീട്ടു കുടം ഇട്ടുടച്ചു”
English Translation:
Drew water all day long until dusk, and then deliberately smashed the pot in the evening. (Working diligently to build an achievement, only to ruin the entire outcome through a reckless fit of temper at the very end.)

“ വൈദ്യൻ അടിച്ചാൽ മർമ്മം തടിക്കും”
English Translation:
If a physician strikes a blow, the vital pressure point swells. (When an expert with intimate knowledge of vulnerabilities turns hostile, the strike is devastating because they know exactly where to wound.)

“ വൈദ്യൻ കാട്ടിൽ കയറിയതുപോലെ”
English Translation:
Like an Ayurvedic healer stepping into the wild forest. (Entering a realm brimming with endless remedies and opportunities where an untrained eye sees only useless weeds.)

“ വൈദ്യന്റെ അമ്മ പുഴുത്തെ ചാകൂ”
English Translation:
The physician’s own mother dies of neglected, festering sores. (The shoemaker’s children go barefoot; an expert’s own household is often deprived of the very skills dispensed to the outside world.)