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ŚB 10.90.21

Devanagari

प्रियरावपदानि भाषसे मृत-
सञ्जीविकयानया गिरा ।
करवाणि किमद्य ते प्रियं
वद मे वल्गितकण्ठ कोकिल ॥ २१ ॥

Text

priya-rāva-padāni bhāṣase
mṛta-sañjīvikayānayā girā
karavāṇi kim adya te priyaṁ
vada me valgita-kaṇṭha kokila

Synonyms

priya — dear; rāva — of him whose sounds; padāni — the vibrations; bhāṣase — you are uttering; mṛta — the dead; sañjīvikayā — which brings back to life; anayā — in this; girā — voice; karavāṇi — I should do; kim — what; adya — today; te — for you; priyam — pleasing; vada — please tell; me — me; valgita — sweetened (by these sounds); kaṇṭha — O you whose throat; kokila — O cuckoo.

Translation

O sweet-throated cuckoo, in a voice that could revive the dead you are vibrating the same sounds we once heard from our beloved, the most pleasing of speakers. Please tell me what I can do today to please you.

Purport

As Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains, though the song of a cuckoo is very pleasant, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s wives perceive it as painful because it reminds them of their beloved Kṛṣṇa and exacerbates their pain of separation.