Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
tatra teá¹£v Ätma-paká¹£eá¹£v a-
gṛṇatsu vijigÄ«á¹£ayÄ
vÄcaḥ peÅ›aiḥ smayan bhá¹›tyam
uddhavaá¹ prÄha keÅ›avaḥ
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; tatra - there; teá¹£u - they (the YÄdavas); Ätma - His own; paká¹£eá¹£u - supporters; agṛṇatsu - not agreeing; vijigÄ«á¹£ayÄ - because of their desire to conquer (JarÄsandha); vÄcaḥ - of speech; peÅ›aiḥ - with charming usage; smayan - smiling; bhá¹›tyam - to His servant; uddhavam - ÅšrÄ« Uddhava; prÄha - spoke; keÅ›avaḥ - Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: When His supporters, the YÄdavas, objected to this proposal out of eagerness to defeat JarÄsandha, Lord KeÅ›ava turned to His servant Uddhava and, smiling, addressed him with fine words.
ÅšrÄ«la PrabhupÄda explains, “Just before the great sage NÄrada arrived in the SudharmÄ assembly house of DvÄrakÄ, Lord Kṛṣṇa and His ministers and secretaries had been considering how to attack the kingdom of JarÄsandha. Because they were seriously considering this subject, NÄrada’s proposal that Lord Kṛṣṇa go to HastinÄpura for MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira’s great RÄjasÅ«ya sacrifice did not much appeal to them. Lord Kṛṣṇa could understand the intentions of His associates because He is the ruler of even Lord BrahmÄ. Therefore, in order to pacify them, He smilingly [spoke] to Uddhava.â€
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« points out that the Lord smiled because He was about to demonstrate Uddhava’s brilliant ability to give counsel in difficult situations.
