haá¹sa svÄgatam ÄsyatÄá¹ piba payo brÅ«hy aá¹…ga Å›aureḥ kathÄá¹
dÅ«taá¹ tvÄá¹ nu vidÄma kaccid ajitaḥ svasty Ästa uktaá¹ purÄ
kiá¹ vÄ naÅ› cala-sauhá¹›daḥ smarati taá¹ kasmÄd bhajÄmo vayaá¹
ká¹£audrÄlÄpaya kÄma-daá¹ Å›riyam á¹›te saivaika-niá¹£á¹hÄ striyÄm
haá¹sa - O swan; su-Ägatam - welcome; ÄsyatÄm - please come and sit down; piba - please drink; payaḥ - milk; brÅ«hi - tell us; aá¹…ga - dear one; Å›aureḥ - of Åšauri; kathÄm - news; dÅ«tam - messenger; tvÄm - you; nu - indeed; vidÄma - we recognize; kaccit - whether; ajitaḥ - the unconquerable one; svasti - well; Äste - is; uktam - spoken; purÄ - long ago; kim - whether; vÄ - or; naḥ - to us; cala - fickle; sauhá¹›daḥ - whose friendship; smarati - He remembers; tam - Him; kasmÄt - for what reason; bhajÄmaḥ - should worship; vayam - we; ká¹£audra - O servant of Him who is petty; ÄlÄpaya - tell Him to come; kÄma - desire; dam - who bestows; Å›riyam - the goddess of fortune; á¹›te - without; sÄ - she; eva - alone; eka-niá¹£á¹hÄ - exclusively devoted; striyÄm - among women.
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« relates the following conversation between the queens and the swan:
The queens ask, “Is the unconquerable Lord doing well?â€
The swan replies, “How can Lord Kṛṣṇa be doing well without you, His beloved consorts?â€
“But does He even remember what He once told one of us, ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Rukmiṇī? Does He recall that He said, ‘In all My palaces I see no other wife as dear as you’?â€
“He does indeed remember this, and that is just why He sent me here. You should all go to Him and engage in His devotional service.â€
“Why should we go worship Him if He refuses to come here to be with us?â€
“But my dear oceans of compassion, He is suffering so much from your absence! How can He be saved from this distress?â€
“Just listen, O servant of a petty master: tell Him to come here, as He should. If He is suffering from lusty desires, He has only Himself to blame, since He Himself is the creator of Cupid’s power. We self-respecting ladies are not going to yield to His demand that we go seek Him out.â€
“So be it; then I will take my leave.â€
“No, one minute, dear swan. Ask Him to come to us here, but without the goddess of fortune, who always cheats us by keeping Him all to herself.â€
“Don’t you know that Goddess Laká¹£mÄ« is devoted exclusively to the Lord? How could He give her up like that?â€
“And is she the only woman in the world who is completely sold out to Him? What about us?â€