Texts 20-22
dīvyantam akṣais tatrāpi
priyayā coddhavena ca
pūjitaḥ parayā bhaktyā
pratyutthānāsanādibhiḥ
pṛṣṭaś cāviduṣevāsau
kadāyāto bhavān iti
kriyate kiṁ nu pūrṇānām
apūrṇair asmad-ādibhiḥ
athāpi brūhi no brahman
janmaitac chobhanaṁ kuru
sa tu vismita utthāya
tūṣṇīm anyad agād gṛham
dīvyantam — playing; akṣaiḥ — with dice; tatra — there; api — indeed; priyayā — with His beloved; ca — and; uddhavena — with Uddhava; ca — also; pūjitaḥ — he was worshiped; parayā — with transcendental; bhaktyā — devotion; pratyutthāna — by His standing up from His sitting place; āsana — by His offering him a seat; ādibhiḥ — and so on; pṛṣṭaḥ — questioned; ca — and; aviduṣā — by one who was in ignorance; iva — as if; asau — he, Nārada; kadā — when; āyātaḥ — arrived; bhavān — your good self; iti — thus; kriyate — is intended to be done; kim — what; nu — indeed; pūrṇānām — by those who are full; apūrṇaiḥ — with those who are not full; asmat-ādibhiḥ — such as Ourself; atha api — nonetheless; brūhi — please tell; naḥ — Us; brahman — O brāhmaṇa; janma — Our birth; etat — this; śobhanam — auspicious; kuru — please make; saḥ — he, Nārada; tu — but; vismitaḥ — astonished; utthāya — standing up; tūṣṇīm — silently; anyat — to another; agāt — went; gṛham — palace.
There he saw the Lord playing at dice with His beloved consort and His friend Uddhava. Lord Kṛṣṇa worshiped Nārada by standing up, offering him a seat, and so on, and then, as if He did not know, asked him, “When did you arrive? What can needy persons like Us do for those who are full in themselves? In any case, My dear brāhmaṇa, please make My life auspicious.” Thus addressed, Nārada was astonished. He simply stood up silently and went to another palace.
In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that when Nārada arrived at the second palace, “Lord Kṛṣṇa acted as if He did not know what had happened in the palace of Rukmiṇī.” Nārada understood that Lord Kṛṣṇa was simultaneously present in both palaces, performing different activities, so “he simply left the palace silently, in great astonishment over the Lord’s activities.”