किं काव्येन कवेस्तस्य किं काण्डेन धनुष्मतः ।
परस्य हृदये लग्नं न घूर्णयति यच्छिरः ॥
kiṁ kāvyena kaves tasya kiṁ kāṇḍena dhanuṣmataḥ |
parasya hṛdaye lagnaṁ na ghūrṇayati yac chiraḥ ||
(Nala-campū: 1.5; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.1.195)
“What good is a poet’s poetry or a bowman’s arrow which strikes the heart of another but do not cause the head [of the other] to spin?”
Alternate version
kiṁ kaves tasya kāvyena kiṁ kāṇḍena dhanuṣmataḥ |
parasya hṛdayaṁ bhittvā na ghūrṇayati tac chiraḥ ||