కొల్లేట్లో పండే పంటేగాని, చచ్చే దున్నపోతులకు లెక్క లేదు.
kolletlo pande pantegani, chachche dunnapotulaku lekka ledu.
[They look at] the crops which grow in Kollêru, but there is no account of the buffaloes which die there. Counting profit, but not loss.
This proverb describes a situation where an outcome or profit is visible, but the immense cost, hidden sacrifices, or the loss of resources required to achieve it are ignored. It is used to highlight that success often comes at a high, unacknowledged price.
Related Phrases
కొల్లేటి పంట కూటికే చాలదు
kolleti panta kutike chaladu
The crop from Kolleru is not even enough for food.
This expression is used to describe a situation where the income or result from a project is barely enough to cover the basic expenses or survival costs, leaving no room for profit or savings. Historically, farming in the Kolleru lake region was unpredictable due to floods, often yielding just enough to eat.
చెరువు చూచి, దున్నపోతు ఆ నీళ్ళన్నీ తానే తాగాలనుకొని గుండె పగిలి చచ్చిందట.
cheruvu chuchi, dunnapotu a nillanni tane tagalanukoni gunde pagili chachchindata.
Seeing the lake, the buffalo wanted to drink all the water itself and died of a broken heart (or burst chest).
This proverb is used to describe greed and over-ambition. It warns that trying to consume or possess more than one's capacity or trying to take everything for oneself leads to self-destruction. It is often applied to people who are overly greedy and fail to recognize their own limits.
పాకాల చెరువును చూసి, ఆ నీళ్ళన్నీ తానే తాగాలని దున్నపోతు గుండె పగిలి చచ్చిందట.
pakala cheruvunu chusi, a nillanni tane tagalani dunnapotu gunde pagili chachchindata.
Looking at the Pakala lake and wanting to drink all that water by itself, the male buffalo's heart burst and it died.
This proverb describes a situation where someone's excessive greed or over-ambition leads to their own downfall. It is used to mock people who attempt tasks far beyond their capacity or who harbor unrealistic desires that eventually lead to their ruin.
కొల్లేటిలో పండే పంటకు లెక్కేగాని, చచ్చే దున్నపోతులకు లెక్కలేదు
kolletilo pande pantaku lekkegani, chachche dunnapotulaku lekkaledu
The crop yield in Kolleru is counted, but the buffaloes that die in the process are not.
This proverb describes a situation where people focus only on profits or successful outcomes while ignoring the heavy losses, sacrifices, or 'human cost' incurred to achieve them. It is used to criticize management or systems that value results over the well-being of the workers or resources involved.
కాకుల లెక్క కరణాల లెక్క
kakula lekka karanala lekka
Counting crows and accounting of village clerks
This expression refers to unreliable, fictitious, or manipulated statistics and records. It compares fraudulent bookkeeping or arbitrary reporting to trying to count a flying flock of crows, which is impossible to verify and often based on guesswork or deception.
ఎల్లి శెట్టి లెక్క ఏక లెక్క.
elli shetti lekka eka lekka.
Elli Šetti's account is a single account. Receipts and disbursements, profits and loss, all muddled up together.
This expression is used to describe a person who is extremely stubborn or inflexible in their reasoning. It refers to someone who makes an initial calculation or decision and refuses to change it, even when shown to be wrong or when circumstances change. It highlights a lack of logic or a 'one-track' mind.
ముప్పదిమూడు దున్నపోతులు కడిగేవాడికి, మూడు సాలగ్రామాలు ఒక లెక్కా?
muppadimudu dunnapotulu kadigevadiki, mudu salagramalu oka lekka?
For one who washes thirty-three buffaloes, are three small Salagrama stones a big deal?
This proverb is used to describe a person who handles massive, difficult tasks and therefore finds smaller, trivial tasks insignificant or easy to manage. It implies that once someone has mastered a great burden or volume of work, minor additions do not bother them.
కందకు లేదు, చేమకు లేదు, తోటకూరకు వచ్చెనా దురద?
kandaku ledu, chemaku ledu, totakuraku vachchena durada?
No acridity in Kanda or Chêma, how can there be any in Tôṭakûra ?
This expression is used to mock someone who is unnecessarily bothered or offended by something when the people directly involved are perfectly fine. It highlights the absurdity of an outsider reacting more strongly than the principal parties, similar to the English sentiment of being 'more Catholic than the Pope.'
Kanda is the Arum Campanulatum; Chêma is the Colocasia Antiquorum; Tôṭakûra is applied to the Amaranthus Oleraceus, and other herbs. When a man's relatives and friends won't assist him, why should help be expected from a mere acquaintance ?
చింత లేదు, చింత లేకపోతే పులుసు లేదు.
chinta ledu, chinta lekapote pulusu ledu.
"No matter" said one, "Then if there's no tamarind, there's no acid" said the other. There is here a pun upon the word Chinta which means both "thought, sorrow" and also "tamarinds."
This is a pun on the Telugu word 'Chinta' which means both 'worry' and 'tamarind'. It is used humorously to describe a situation where someone says they have no worries, but in reality, they are missing a basic necessity or the very thing that gives life flavor. It highlights that being completely free of 'concerns' might sometimes mean lacking something essential.
పిందెలో పండిన పండు
pindelo pandina pandu
A fruit ripened after being plucked. Said of a precocious youth.
This expression is used to describe someone who shows maturity, wisdom, or behaviors far beyond their actual age, often used in the context of a child acting like an adult or being 'precocious'. It can also imply someone who has gained experience or 'ripened' prematurely.