Text 56
athāpi pṛcche tvāṁ vīra
yad-arthaṁ tvam ihāgataḥ
tad vayaṁ nirvyalīkena
pratipadyāmahe hṛdā
atha api — in spite of all this; pṛcche — I ask; tvām — you; vīra — O valiant King; yat-artham — the purpose; tvam — you; iha — here; āgataḥ — have come; tat — that; vayam — we; nirvyalīkena — without reservation; pratipadyāmahe — we shall carry out; hṛdā — with heart and soul.
In spite of all this, I ask you, O valiant King, the purpose for which you have come here. Whatever it may be, we shall carry it out without reservation.
When a guest comes to a friend’s house, it is understood that there is some special purpose. Kardama Muni could understand that such a great king as Svāyambhuva, although traveling to inspect the condition of his kingdom, must have had some special purpose to come to his hermitage. Thus he prepared himself to fulfill the King’s desire. Formerly it was customary that the sages used to go to the kings and the kings used to visit the sages in their hermitages; each was glad to fulfill the other’s purpose. This reciprocal relationship is called bhakti-kārya. There is a nice verse describing the relationship of mutual beneficial interest between the brāhmaṇa and the kṣatriya (kṣatraṁ dvijatvam). Kṣatram means “the royal order,” and dvijatvam means “the brahminical order.” The two were meant for mutual interest. The royal order would give protection to the brāhmaṇas for the cultivation of spiritual advancement in society, and the brāhmaṇas would give their valuable instruction to the royal order on how the state and the citizens can gradually be elevated in spiritual perfection.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Twenty-first Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Conversation Between Manu and Kardama.”