śrī-śuka uvāca
vṛṣṇīnāḿ pravaro mantrī
kṛṣṇasya dayitaḥ sakhā
śiṣyo bṛhaspateḥ sākṣād
uddhavo buddhi-sattamaḥ
sri-sukah uvaca -- Sukadeva Gosvami said; vrishninam -- of the Vrishnis; pravarah -- the best; mantri -- adviser; krishnasya -- of Krishna; dayitah -- beloved; sakha -- friend; sishyah -- disciple; brihaspateh -- of Brihaspati, the spiritual master of the demigods; sakshat -- directly; uddhavah -- Uddhava; buddhi -- having intelligence; sat-tamah -- of the highest quality.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: The supremely intelligent Uddhava was the best counselor of the Vrishni dynasty, a beloved friend of Lord Sri Krishna and a direct disciple of Brihaspati.
The acaryas give various reasons why Lord Krishna sent Uddhava to Vrindavana. The Lord had promised the residents of Vrindavana: ayasye, "I shall return." (Bhag. 10.39.35) Also, in the previous chapter Lord Krishna promised Nanda Maharaja: drashtum eshyamah, "We will come back to see you and mother Yasoda." (Bhag. 10.45.23) At the same time, the Lord could not break His promise to Sri Vasudeva and mother Devaki to finally spend some time with them after they had suffered for so many years. Therefore, the Lord decided to send His intimate representative to Vrindavana in His place.
The question may be asked, Why did Krishna not invite Nanda and Yasoda to visit Him in Mathura? According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, for the Lord to have exchanged loving feelings with Nanda and Yasoda in the same place and at the same time that He was exchanging them with Vasudeva and Devaki would have created an awkward situation in the Lord's pastimes. Thus Krishna did not invite Nanda and Yasoda to stay with Him in Mathura. The residents of Vrindavana had their own way of understanding Krishna, and their feelings could not have been appropriately expressed on a regular basis in the kingly atmosphere of Mathura.
Sri Uddhava is described in this verse as buddhi-sattamah, "the most intelligent," and thus he could expertly pacify the residents of Vrindavana, who were feeling such intense separation from Lord Krishna. Then, upon his return to Mathura, Uddhava would describe to all the members of the Vrishni dynasty the extraordinary pure love he had seen in Vrindavana. Indeed, the love the cowherd men and gopis felt for Krishna was far beyond anything the Lord's other devotees had ever experienced, and by hearing about that love all the Lord's devotees would increase their faith and devotion.
As stated in the Third Canto by the Lord Himself, noddhavo 'nv api man-nyunah: "Uddhava is not even slightly different from Me." Resembling Krishna so much, Uddhava was the perfect person to carry out the Lord's mission in Vrindavana. In fact, Sri Hari-vamsa states that Uddhava is the son of Vasudeva's brother Devabhaga: uddhavo devabhagasya maha-bhagah suto 'bhavat. In other words, he is a cousin-brother of Sri Krishna's.
