evaḿ sabhājito gopaiḥ
kṛṣṇa-bhaktyā narādhipa
uddhavaḥ punar āgacchan
mathurāḿ kṛṣṇa-pālitām
evam -- thus; sabhajitah -- shown honor; gopaih -- by the cowherds; krishna-bhaktya -- with devotion for Krishna; nara-adhipa -- O ruler of men (Parikshit); uddhavah -- Uddhava; punah -- again; agacchat -- returned; mathuram -- to Mathura; krishna-palitam -- which was being protected by Lord Krishna.
[Sukadeva Gosvami continued:] O ruler of men, thus honored by the cowherd men with expressions of devotion for Lord Krishna, Uddhava went back to the city of Mathura, which was under Krishna's protection.
The word krishna-palitam indicates that even though Uddhava became quite attached to the land of Vrindavana, he returned to Mathura because Sri Krishna was personally displaying His transcendental pastimes there.
