(Yashoda, the mother of Krishna, expresses her sorrow on separation from her beloved son Krishna, before a cuckoo.)
Cuckoo! Keshaba has left for Mathura.
With whose permission did he leave?
He did not return, O cuckoo!
Cuckoo! To whom shall I give sugarcandy with milk?
The child who eats it has left.
He has left for Mathura. O cuckoo!
Cuckoo! The son left, did not return.
The deep woods of Vrindavan
Have lost their lustre. O cuckoo!
Cuckoo! This house is not home for Nanda.
This house is not beautiful
Without Govinda, O cuckoo!
Cuckoo! Nanda is made of stone.
He put collyrium in the eyes of his son,
Made him climb the chariot, O cuckoo!
Cuckoo! The sweet sound of the moving bells in the waist:
The women of Gopa were
Surprised to hear it, O cuckoo!
Cuckoo! Sometime in the past I hit him with a stick
Krishna has left me
For that one mistake, O cuckoo!
Translated from the Oriya by D.B. Pattanaik