ProverbPedia

“Malayalam Proverb:
കെട്ടാത്തവനു കെട്ടാത്തതുകൊണ്ടു, കെട്ടിയവനു കെട്ടിയതുകൊണ്ടു”
— English Translation:
Trouble for the bachelor because he is unmarried, and trouble for the married man because he is wed. (Every station in life carries its own unique discontents; the grass is always greener on the other side.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കൈപ്പുണ്ണിനു കണ്ണാടിവേണ്ടാ”
— English Translation:
You do not need a mirror to inspect an ulcer on your own hand. (What is completely obvious, self-evident, and right in plain sight requires no external proof.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കെട്ടാൻ നേരത്താണൊ മൂക്കു എടുക്കുന്നതു”
— English Translation:
Is the wedding hour the time to pierce and shape the nose? (Scrambling to do fundamental preparations at the eleventh hour when the event is already beginning.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കൈപ്പത്തടത്തിൽ തവളനിൽക്കെണം (കരയണം)”
— English Translation:
A frog belongs in the bitter-gourd patch (and should do its croaking there). (Everyone should stay within their own designated station and appropriate boundaries.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കെട്ടിയ മരത്തിനു കുത്തരുതു”
— English Translation:
Do not butt your horns against the very tree to which you are tethered. (Never attack or undermine the protector, patron, or institution upon which your security depends.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കൊക്കറ്റംതിന്നാലും കോഴി കൊത്തിക്കൊത്തിനിൽക്കും”
— English Translation:
Even if a fowl gorges until its crop is full to the beak, it will still keep scratching and pecking. (Inborn habits and restless greed do not vanish with fullness; an opportunistic nature never stops foraging.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കെട്ടിയിട്ട പട്ടിക്കു കുപ്പയെല്ലാം ചോറു”
— English Translation:
To a chained dog, every rubbish heap looks like a bowl of rice. (To someone living in desperate deprivation, even the coarsest scraps appear as a banquet.)

“”
— English Translation:
He who hanged himself by clutching the feet of a man who had already hanged himself. (Blindly following someone else's catastrophic blunder to one's own doom.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കെട്ടു പാടിനു കൊടുത്താൽ മട്ടിനു കിട്ടും”
— English Translation:
If you lend through loose, informal promises, you will be repaid only in dregs. (Vague agreements and lack of documentation result in defaulted debts and total loss.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കൂനന്റെ പുറത്തു കുരു”
— English Translation:
A boil erupting upon a hunchback's hump. (Misfortune compounding upon an already heavy affliction; adding insult to injury.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കേമത്തനു കേടില”
— English Translation:
The capable and resourceful suffer no lasting harm. (A truly competent, resilient person always finds a way to navigate adversity safely.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കൂനന്റെ നിഴലും കൂനിയിരിക്കും”
— English Translation:
Even the shadow of a hunchback is bent. (A warped character cannot project a straight, noble reputation; reality always reveals inner flaws.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കേട്ടയും മൂട്ടയും വീട്ടിലാകാ”
— English Translation:
Neither the ill-omened star Jyeshtha nor bedbugs should dwell inside the house. (Chronic discord, toxic presences, and pestilence must be kept far from the home.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കൂറ കപ്പലിൽ (മണപ്പാട്ടു-ബങ്കാളത്തിനു)പോയപോലെ”
— English Translation:
Like a cockroach hitching a ride on a sailing ship to Bengal. (Finding oneself on a grand, unintended voyage far beyond one's station, while remaining merely a helpless nuisance.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കേരളം ബ്രാഹ്മണർക്കു സ്വർഗ്ഗം, ശേഷംജാതികൾക്കു നരകം”
— English Translation:
Kerala is heaven for the Brahmins, and hell for the remaining castes. (A historical critique of the oppressive feudal order and severe caste hierarchy of old Kerala.)

“Malayalam Proverb:
കൂറപ്പേൻ ചിനത്താൽ കുതിരക്കുട്ടിയാമൊ”
— English Translation:
Even if a clothes louse conceives, will it ever give birth to a foal? (A base parasite will never produce something noble; nature cannot exceed its kind.)