athÄpi pá¹›cche tvÄá¹ vÄ«ra
yad-arthaá¹ tvam ihÄgataḥ
tad vayaṠnirvyalīkena
pratipadyÄmahe há¹›dÄ
atha api - in spite of all this; pá¹›cche - I ask; tvÄm - you; vÄ«ra - O valiant King; yat-artham - the purpose; tvam - you; iha - here; Ägataḥ - have come; tat - that; vayam - we; nirvyalÄ«kena - without reservation; pratipadyÄmahe - we shall carry out; há¹›dÄ - with heart and soul.
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 SvÄyambhuva, 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-kÄrya. There is a nice verse describing the relationship of mutual beneficial interest between the brÄhmaṇa and the ká¹£atriya (ká¹£atraá¹ dvijatvam). Ká¹£atram 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 brÄhmaṇas for the cultivation of spiritual advancement in society, and the brÄhmaṇas 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 ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam, entitled “Conversation Between Manu and Kardama.â€