ముదిముండ పాతివ్రత్యమునకు జొచ్చినట్లు

mudimunda pativratyamunaku jochchinatlu

Translation

Like an old widow starting to practice extreme chastity.

Meaning

This proverb is used to mock someone who suddenly adopts moral values or strict discipline in their old age after having lived an irresponsible or immoral life in their youth. It describes hypocrisy or a late-life conversion to virtue that lacks true merit because the person no longer has the opportunity or strength to commit the sins they once did.

Related Phrases

Like saying, 'Pour water in an unbaked clay pot to prove your chastity'

This proverb describes setting an impossible or rigged task as a test of someone's character or ability. An unbaked clay pot (pachikunda) will naturally dissolve or leak when water is poured into it, regardless of the person's virtue. It is used when someone is being unfairly tested or when the failure of a task is inevitable due to the tools provided.

Living family life in a marketplace; a prostitute claiming chastity.

This proverb is used to describe highly contradictory or impossible situations. It highlights the hypocrisy of someone claiming to possess a virtue or a lifestyle that is completely inconsistent with their environment or profession. Just as one cannot maintain a private, peaceful family life in the middle of a noisy, public market, it is considered ironic for a sex worker to claim the traditional virtues of a 'pativrata' (a chaste, devoted wife).

The chastity of a Shankini woman.

This expression is used sarcastically to describe someone who pretends to be virtuous or loyal while their true character is quite the opposite. In traditional literature, a 'Shankini' is categorized as a type of woman with negative traits; hence, claiming she is a paragon of chastity is an oxymoron used to mock hypocrisy.

Diet for medicine, truth for words

This expression emphasizes that just as dietary restrictions (pathyam) are essential for medicine to be effective, honesty and truthfulness are essential for words to have value and credibility. It is used to highlight the importance of integrity in communication.

Like saying the King's wife is a faithful woman.

This expression is used to describe a situation where someone states something that is universally obvious, undisputed, or redundant. It suggests that certain things are so well-established by status or common knowledge that pointing them out is unnecessary or serves as a sarcastic commentary on stating the obvious.

A faithful wife from the Pakanadu region

This is a sarcastic or idiomatic expression used to describe someone who pretends to be extremely virtuous, modest, or disciplined on the outside but lacks those qualities in reality. It is often used to mock hypocritical behavior or someone putting on an act of excessive righteousness.

A piece of jewelry filled with lacquer, a house entered by a fox.

This proverb describes things that have lost their value or have become ominous/ruined. Just as a gold ornament filled with cheap lacquer loses its purity and weight value, a house entered by a fox is traditionally considered an ill omen or a place destined for ruin in Telugu culture.

An old woman is a faithful wife.

This proverb is used to describe a person who claims to be virtuous or disciplined only because they no longer have the capacity or opportunity to be otherwise. It suggests that some people's 'goodness' is merely a result of their circumstances or age, rather than a genuine choice. It is often used sarcastically to call out hypocrisy in those who act righteous after their prime years of mischief.

Hesitation is far from liberation.

This expression is used to advise that being overly hesitant or shy (Mogamatam) prevents one from achieving their goals or finding true freedom (Moksham). It suggests that if you are too worried about what others think or too shy to speak your mind, you will never reach your full potential or find peace.

Like placing a lamp in a heavy wind and claiming its survival is due to one's own virtue.

This proverb is used to describe someone who takes personal credit for an outcome that was actually a result of pure luck or external circumstances. It mocks people who boast about their greatness or 'powers' when they have done something foolish or risky and happened to succeed by chance.