This expression means that a person suffers the harmful consequences of their own actions. In other words, malicious or reckless actions often end up backfiring on the one who initiated them. In Malagasy culture, as in many other cultures, there is a strong belief in immanent justice – the idea that actions, whether good or bad, inevitably return to their author. The English equivalent of this proverb is ‘You reap what you sow.’