More Wisdom through Proverbs
Culture 101: Unpacking Local Sayings.
Welcome to new readers!
This is the Wisdom series, where I share local sayings, proverbs, or aphorisms, along with their literal meaning, interpretation, and usage.
Many of these are well-known across India, though their popularity may vary depending on the language of origin. Some are localized to specific regions and offer unique cultural insights.
Literal Saying: Buffalo in front of, instrument playing.
Like playing a wind instrument in front of a buffalo.
Meaning: The specific instrument named in the proverb is a wind instrument called ‘been’ (pronounced ‘bean’, Hindi/Urdu) traditionally used by snake charmers in India for centuries. It means to plead or make a case before someone who cannot appreciate the argument. Or to even understand it. For a buffalo does not care about your music or your skill in playing the instrument - no finer appreciation exists!
Usage: The phrase is used to indicate a lost cause—arguing in front of someone who lacks the skills, education, or wisdom to understand, appreciate, or rule on it. It’s like playing in front of a buffalo! Similar to ‘casting pearls before swine.’ No offense intended to buffaloes, who might be far more interested in chewing grass! ;-)
Literal Saying: By and by, rich man’s horse, donkey became.
Over time, a wealthy man’s horse became a donkey!
Meaning: This is a saying in the language of Karnataka—Kannada1, which is also the local language of Bangalore. It implies that someone who was once smart and efficient has become lazy and ineffective. A rich man’s horse is athletic, well-groomed, and often proudly displayed as a symbol of status when he rides it into town. However, over time, due to excessive pampering and indiscipline, the horse loses its fitness and turns into a lesser, more utilitarian animal like a donkey (in relative terms).
Usage: This proverb is used to chide someone who was once capable and talented but has allowed poor habits, behaviors or indiscipline to make them ineffectual and weak.
Literal Saying: Made, Eat, Great Sir.
Eat what you made, Great Sir!
Meaning: Another Kannada saying. "Great Sir" is an honorific title, but in this context, it's used sarcastically. Every culture has its version of the saying, "As you sow, so shall you reap," or, in this case, "You must eat what you cooked, Mister!" The proverb emphasizes personal accountability—facing the consequences of one's own actions.
Usage: This proverb is often used to remind others that their actions have consequences. When those consequences become evident, someone might say this to highlight that the person must deal with the results of their choices. It can also be used as self-recrimination or as a moment of schadenfreude, reflecting that you (or someone else) are now reaping what was sown.
I end not with another proverb, but with a tale from a saint born in the early 1800s.
He explains why the practice of taking holy river dips may be misleading. He offers the view that the River Ganges can indeed wash away human sins. But when a person approaches the river for a sacred bath, their sins flee to the trees on the riverbanks.
On the person’s walk back from the holy dip, those same sins descend back onto their shoulders.
The message is clear: unless a person changes their behavior and actions for good, no amount of holy dips will help. Their innate nature—and bad habits—will return.
I hope you liked these selections. Discover more timeless wisdom in the full series.
"Kannada" is pronounced as "KUN-nuh-duh," with emphasis on the first syllable and soft, quick last syllables.
I think that a water buffalo playing a wind instrument to a person works better than an inanimate object doing so. My wife was riding a water buffalo by age 8. She was 38 before she got her driver's license. But it might be that my 1982 Volkswagen Rabbit was a poor muse.
I enjoy folk wisdom ! I understand that some Africans ask " how is your skin ? " rather than " how are you ? ", which makes sense because skin & its present state indicate one's health.
I took cultural anthropology & afterwards kept studying it.
What is a good Indian proverb about wasting a mind ?