Vemana: wisdom in four lines వేమన పద్యాలు

Yogi Vemana (వేమన), most likely of the 17th century, wrote hundreds of short, blunt, witty verses in the simple aṭavelaḍi metre — plain language anyone could understand.

His subjects were everyday and unsparing: hypocrisy, greed, caste, kindness, common sense. Because he wrote for ordinary people in ordinary words, his lines became proverbs passed mouth to mouth for centuries.

Every Vemana verse ends with the same signature line — 'విశ్వదాభిరామ వినుర వేమ'. Telugu speakers recognise it instantly: the stamp of the people's poet.