Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 3
Puruṣa-sūkta Logic of the Virāṭ: Cosmic Anatomy, Sacrifice, and the Lord’s Transcendence
रूपाणां तेजसां चक्षुर्दिव: सूर्यस्य चाक्षिणी । कर्णौ दिशां च तीर्थानां श्रोत्रमाकाशशब्दयो: ॥ ३ ॥
rūpāṇāṁ tejasāṁ cakṣur divaḥ sūryasya cākṣiṇī karṇau diśāṁ ca tīrthānāṁ śrotram ākāśa-śabdayoḥ
His eyes are the sources of all forms, shining and illumining. His eyeballs are like the sun and the heavenly realms. His ears hear from every direction and are receptacles of all the Vedas, and His faculty of hearing is the source of ākāśa (sky/ether) and of every kind of sound.
The word tīrthānām is sometimes interpreted to mean the places of pilgrimage, but Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that it means the reception of the Vedic transcendental knowledge. The propounders of the Vedic knowledge are also known as the tīrthas.
FAQs
This verse states that the sun functions as the eyesight of the Universal Person—indicating that all illumination and visible forms are ultimately dependent on the Lord’s cosmic arrangement.
He is teaching Parīkṣit that the universe and its sacred geography are not independent; directions and tīrthas are integrated within the Lord’s universal body, and hearing (linked with space and sound) is one of the key ways beings relate to that cosmic order.
See perception itself as sacred: use sight and hearing responsibly—seeking darśana of the Lord’s presence in creation and cultivating śravaṇa (hearing) of bhakti teachings, especially in holy environments or spiritually uplifting settings.