Text 258
arasa-jña kāka cūṣe jñāna-nimba-phale
rasa-jña kokila khāya premāmra-mukule
arasa-jña — those who are without mellows; kāka — the crows; cūṣe — suck; jñāna — of knowledge; nimba-phale — on the bitter nimba fruit; rasa-jña — those who enjoy transcendental mellows; kokila — the cuckoos; khāya — eat; prema-āmra-mukule — the buds of the mango of love of Godhead.
Rāmānanda Rāya continued, “Those who are devoid of all transcendental mellows are like the crows that suck the juice from the bitter fruits of the nimba tree of knowledge, whereas those who enjoy mellows are like the cuckoos who eat the buds of the mango tree of love of Godhead.”
The speculative process of empiric philosophy is as bitter as the fruit of the nimba tree. Tasting this fruit is the business of crows. In other words, the philosophical process of realizing the Absolute Truth is a process taken up by crowlike men. But the cuckoolike devotees have very sweet voices with which to chant the holy name of the Lord and taste the sweet fruit of the mango tree of love of Godhead. Such devotees relish sweet mellows with the Lord.