Text 21
priya-rāva-padāni bhāṣase
mṛta-sañjīvikayānayā girā
karavāṇi kim adya te priyaṁ
vada me valgita-kaṇṭha kokila
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.
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.
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.