Narapatijayacarya 1.12

1.12

kathaṃcidapīti | svarajñena svaraśāstrajñena vināpi nṛpaḥ yuddhe saṃgrāme kathañcidvijayī bhavet tattu dhuṇavarṇopamaṃ bhavati | yathā ghuṇaḥ kīṭaviśeṣaḥ kāṣṭhaṃ karttayan tatrākṣaramutkirati na tatra tasyākṣarakaraṇe prayāsaḥ tathā yathāndhacaṭakaḥ pakṣiviśeṣaḥ evaṃ svarajñānaviyukto yuddhārthabakalasainyamapi | syaikopīti | yasya rājñaḥ gṛhaṃ eko'pi svaraśāstrasya pāragaḥ svarajñaḥ nāsti tasya bhūpateḥ rājyaṃ rambhāstabhopamaṃ kadalīgarbhavannissāramityarthaḥ| svaraśāstre iti | sugamam ||

'If somehow...' Even without a knower of sounds, one who knows the science of sounds, if a king should somehow be victorious in battle, in war, that is like a woodworm's letter. Just as a woodworm, a kind of insect, while cutting wood, carves a letter therein without having any deliberate effort in making that letter; and just as a blind man [catches] a sparrow, a kind of bird; so it is with an army marching for battle devoid of the knowledge of sounds. 'In whose...' The king in whose house there is not even a single master of the science of sounds, a knower of sounds, the kingdom of that lord of the earth is like a plantain trunk, that is to say, pithless like the interior of a plantain tree. 'In the science of sounds...' Easy to understand.