Text 18
te ’ti-prītās tam ākarṇya
prāptaṁ rāmaṁ suhṛt-tamam
tam arcayitvābhiyayuḥ
sarve maṅgala-pāṇayaḥ
te — they; ati — extremely; prītāḥ — pleased; tam — Him; ākarṇya — hearing; prāptam — arrived; rāmam — Balarāma; suhṛt-tamam — their dearest friend; tam — him, Uddhava; arcayitvā — after worshiping; abhiyayuḥ — went forth; sarve — all of them; maṅgala — auspicious offerings; pāṇayaḥ — in their hands.
Overjoyed to hear that Balarāma, their dearmost friend, had come, they first honored Uddhava and then went forth to meet the Lord, carrying auspicious offerings in their hands.
In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “The leaders of the Kuru dynasty, especially Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana, were very joyful because they knew very well that Lord Balarāma was a great well-wisher of their family. There were no bounds to their joy on hearing the news, and so they immediately welcomed Uddhava. In order to properly receive Lord Balarāma, they all took in their hands auspicious paraphernalia for His reception and went to see Him outside the city gate.”