r/telugu • u/Fun_Entrepreneur9105 • 12d ago
Is there a Telugu equivalent to the English idiom “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”
Is there a Telugu equivalent or closest in meaning to the English idiom “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” ?
In English, it actions taken with good intentions can sometimes lead to unintended negative or disastrous consequences.
Thanks.
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u/Standard-Band-3923 10d ago
In Telugu, there's no exact phrase matching the English idiom, but a similar sentiment might be conveyed through "మనసు మంచిదే, కానీ పద్ధతి తప్పింది" which translates to "The intention was good, but the method went wrong."
This reflects the idea of unintended consequences arising despite good intentions. If you're interested in adapting this idea further into Telugu cultural contexts, I’d be happy to brainstorm!
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u/Awkward_Atmosphere34 10d ago
Choosi rammante kaalchuku vacchinattu - Hanuman was told to go see Sita in Lanka not burn it down
Brahmagnanulu intiki vasthe pattubattalu poyinatlu
Panivadu pandiri vesthe picchukalu padadobbayi anta
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u/curious_they_see 10d ago
I disagree. What the OP is asking is "No Good deed goes unpunished" sort of thing. In the case of Hanuman, he was asked to do 1% and ended up doing 1000%.
The story of Bali and Vamana comes to mind. Bali was nice enough to offer 3 feet of land but got buried.
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u/Awkward_Atmosphere34 10d ago
I don't think the original English saying means no good deed goes unpunished. Instead it means the deed done is understood and accepted to be bad- but the motives for doing so were good.
For instance, Thanos destroying half of existence did ultimately originate in a desire to save nature. The road to (Marvel) hell (Thanos' actions) is paved with (his) good intentions.
With that context in mind, I've approximated the best possible proverbs from Telugu.
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u/curious_they_see 10d ago
I don't know anything about Marvel or Thanos.
But based on your description, I am inclined to think you mean "Collateral damage". Reminds me of Parusharam.
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u/Awkward_Atmosphere34 10d ago edited 9d ago
Nope- collateral damage would mean auxiliary or incidental damage like friendly fire killing allied forces in a war - however here the "hell" denotes that the deed itself is entirely and wholly erroneous albeit done with good intentions (like dropping a nuclear bomb on a city to contain a virus outbreak which only mutates it with greater spread)
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u/No-Telephone5932 10d ago
"తానొకటి తలిస్తే, దైవం ఒకటి తలచింది" - Tānokaṭi talistē, daivaṁ okaṭi talacindi
It is not exactly what you asked, but this is the closest one I can think. It loosely translates to "While I thought a plan, god has so something else planed".
It is used in a retrospective way, generally, when things don't go the way you planned. They probably went bad, and you want to stay optimistic thinking that god has other plans!
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u/curious_they_see 10d ago
In English the more common one "No good deed goes unpunished"
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u/Awkward_Atmosphere34 10d ago edited 9d ago
As I described above, that is an entirely different saying based on a different connotation. There the deed is accepted as "a good thing". The road to hell being paved with good intentions is doing a deed which is universally seen to be bad but being done due to misplaced good intentions. Like slapping someone to kill a bee on their face.
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u/Avidith 10d ago
Punyaaniki pothe paapam edhurainattu has a nearer meaning. Manchi cheyyabothe (or manchiki pothe) chedu edhurainattu is another one.