SB 10.90.21
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 21
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.