Text 11.10

यथा वा,
कूजन्ति कोकिलाः साले यौवने फुल्लम् अम्बुजम् ।
किं करोतु कुरङ्गाक्षी-वद् अनेन निपीडिता ॥

yathā vā,
kūjanti kokilāḥ sāle yauvane phullam ambujam |
kiṃ karotu kuraṅgākṣī-vad anena nipīḍitā ||

kūjanti—warble; kokilāḥ—cuckoos; sāle—in a tree; yauvane—in youth; phullam—opened; ambujam—a lotus; kim karotu—what should she do; kuraṅga-akṣī—she whose eyes are like a doe’s eyes; vadanena—by the face (or kuraṅgākṣī-vat—she who is like a doe-eyed woman; anena—by him); nipīḍitā—she is pained.

Cuckoos warble in a tree (in a mango tree) (sāle = rasāle), and lotuses open in youth (in a forest) (yauvane = vane). She is pained by him. What can she do? She is like a doe-eyed girl. (Sāhitya-darpaṇa 10.14)

atra rasāla iti vaktavye sāla iti raś cyutaḥ. vana ity atra yauvana iti yaur dattaḥ. vadaneti me cyute vaś ca.

The word sāle was written when in fact rasāle was meant, thus here the syllable ra was dropped beforehand. Yauvane stands for vane, thus here the syllable yau was added beforehand. Vadanena stands for madanena, thus here the letter m was dropped and v was added.

Commentary:

In the interpretation with the word madanena, the second half of the verse means: kiṃ karotu kuraṅgākṣī madanena nipīḍitā, “What can the doe-eyed girl do? She is pained by Cupid.”

The following two verses by Rūpa Gosvāmī show an exchange of letters on the occasion. The first verse is Śiśupāla’s letter to Rukmiṇī. The second is Rukmiṇī’s reply. The changes are in bold:

praṇayo damaghoṣa-nandane śiśupāle tava yauvanāñcite |
naradeva-vare śrutaśravohṛdayānandi-guṇe vijṛmbhatām ||

“May your love for Śiśupāla awaken. He is the son of Damaghoṣa, is youthful, is the best of kings, and his qualities delight the heart of Śrutaśravā (Śiśupāla’s mother)” (Lalita-mādhava 5.27).

praṇayo mama ghoṣa-nandane paśu-pāle nava-yauvanāñcite |
para-deva-vare druta-śravohṛdayānandi-guṇe vijṛmbhatām ||

“May my love for the darling of the cowherd village awaken. He is a cowherder whose youth is ever fresh. He is the Supreme Lord and is the best. His qualities instantly delight the heart because of His fame” (Lalita-mādhava 5.29).