FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.25.51

देवहूर्नाम पुर्या द्वा उत्तरेण पुरञ्जन: । राष्ट्रमुत्तरपञ्चालं याति श्रुतधरान्वित: ॥ ५१ ॥
devahūr nāma puryā dvā
[devahoor naama puryaa dvaa]
uttareṇa purañjanaḥ
[uttarena puranjanah]
rāṣṭram uttara-pañcālaṁ
[raashtram uttara-panchaalam]
yāti śrutadharānvitaḥ
[yaati shrutadharaanvitah]
devahūḥ — of the name Devahū nāma — as it was called puryāḥ — of the city dvāḥ — gate uttareṇa — on the northern side purañjanaḥ — King Purañjana rāṣṭram — country uttara — northern pañcālam — of the name Pañcāla yāti — used to go śruta-dhara-anvitaḥ — with his friend Śrutadhara.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
devahūr nāma puryā dvā
devahūḥ
of the name Devahū
nāma
as it was called
puryāḥ
of the city
dvāḥ
gate
uttareṇa purañjanaḥ
uttareṇa
on the northern side
purañjanaḥ
King Purañjana
rāṣṭram uttara-pañcālaṁ
rāṣṭram
country
uttara
northern
pañcālam
of the name Pañcāla
yāti śrutadharānvitaḥ
yāti
used to go
śruta-dhara-anvitaḥ
with his friend Śrutadhara.
On the northern side was the gate named Devahū. Through that gate, King Purañjana used to go with his friend Śrutadhara to the place known as Uttara-pañcāla.

The two ears are situated on the northern side and the southern side. The ear on the southern side is very strong and is always anxious to hear about sense enjoyment. The ear on the northern side, however, is used for taking initiation from the spiritual master and for gaining promotion to the spiritual sky. The right ear, or the ear on the southern side, is called Pitṛhū, which indicates that it is used for attaining the higher planetary systems known as Pitṛloka, but the left ear, which is known as Devahū, is utilized for hearing about even higher planetary systems, such as Maharloka, Tapoloka and Brahmaloka — or yet even higher planets, situated in the spiritual universe, where one becomes more inclined to be permanently situated. This is explained in Bhagavad-gītā (9.25) :

yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām

“Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me.”

One who is interested in being happy on this planet as well as after death generally wants to be elevated to the Pitṛlokas. Such a person can use the right ear for hearing Vedic instructions. However, one who is interested in going to Tapoloka, Brahmaloka, the Vaikuṇṭha planets or Kṛṣṇaloka may take initiation from the spiritual master in order to be elevated to such lokas.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Facing northern was the gate named Devahū. Through that gate, King Purañjana used to go with Śrutadhara to the place known as Uttara-pañcāla. Uttarena means in the northern direction. Śrutadhara is the ear. By the right ear which is stronger, one first hears karma-kāṇḍa. By the left ear one hears jñāna-kāṇḍa. Thus they are given different names (Pitṛhū and Devahū). Since one first understands about the five sense objects through the ear, the sense object sound is called pañcāla.
Devahū (north ear) takes the king with Śrutadhara to Uttara-pañcāla; the other ear is for higher hearing. Two ears, two destinations; left/right correspond to fruitive and spiritual hearing.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I imbalanced in what I'm hearing — too much karma-kāṇḍa, too little Uttara?
  • What would I deliberately tune into this week from the higher channel?
📝 My note

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