evaá¹ sabhÄjito gopaiḥ
kṛṣṇa-bhaktyÄ narÄdhipa
uddhavaḥ punar Ägacchan
mathurÄá¹ kṛṣṇa-pÄlitÄm
evam - thus; sabhÄjitaḥ - shown honor; gopaiḥ - by the cowherds; kṛṣṇa-bhaktyÄ - with devotion for Kṛṣṇa; nara-adhipa - O ruler of men (ParÄ«ká¹£it); uddhavaḥ - Uddhava; punaḥ - again; Ägacchat - returned; mathurÄm - to MathurÄ; kṛṣṇa-pÄlitÄm - which was being protected by Lord Kṛṣṇa.
[Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« continued:] O ruler of men, thus honored by the cowherd men with expressions of devotion for Lord Kṛṣṇa, Uddhava went back to the city of MathurÄ, which was under Kṛṣṇa’s protection.
The word kṛṣṇa-pÄlitÄm indicates that even though Uddhava became quite attached to the land of Vá¹›ndÄvana, he returned to MathurÄ because ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa was personally displaying His transcendental pastimes there.
