Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.88.1
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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aśivam
—
austere, inauspicious in worldly terms
A pointed pun: a-śiva applied to Śiva. The verse calls him 'inauspicious' precisely because he is a strict renunciant — yet his worshipers reap auspicious wealth. Gauḍīyas read the wordplay as the seed of the whole chapter's reversal.
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śivam
—
Lord Śiva
Mahādeva, the foremost Vaiṣṇava (vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ, SB 12.13.16). The verse will eventually display him as Viṣṇu's dāsa, not Viṣṇu's rival.
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lakṣmyāḥ patim
—
the husband of the goddess of fortune
Phrase from synonyms. Hari is named here not by power but by relation — Lakṣmī's husband. Even the goddess of fortune serves Him, so His devotees do not need to chase her independently.
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harim
—
Lord Hari
He who steals — both the heart and, here, the wealth of His chosen. The chapter's answer is foreshadowed in the name itself: harati.
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bhajanti
—
they worship
From √bhaj — the root of bhakti. The verse uses the bhakti-root for both kinds of worshipers, then watches the fruits diverge — sambandha to a different Lord, different prayojana.
The eighty eighth chapter explains that Visnu is worthy of service and is beyond the material modes, whereas Siva is touched by the modes. Siva was put into danger by his own devotee Vrkasura. Visnu and his devotee, both beyond the modes, are always exchanging bliss, whereas Siva and his devotee, caught up in the modes, experience suffering. The personified Vedas already stated that among the forms of brahman, paramatma and bhagavan, bhagavan and his devotee are the best. Now in a chapter and a half, amongst Brahma, Visnu and Siva, Visnu is pointed out as the most worthy of service. You have established the worship of Visnu with such statements at the end of the last chapter as "one should meditate on Hari (dhyayet ajasram harim)." Sb 10.87.50 Why then do all people, fearing poverty in worshipping Visnu, take to the worship of Siva?_ Siva is called inauspicious (asiva) because from materialistic vision he wears inauspicious items like ashes from the burning ghata and skulls. But the worshippers of Siva enjoy with wealth, whereas the worshippers of Visnu, the husband of Laksmi, have no wealth, and do not enjoy.
Seeing some devotees of Śiva unsatisfied on hearing the profuse excellence of Kṛṣṇa, Parīkṣit asks a question to confirm that excellence, in order to enlighten them. Those who worship Śiva, enjoy and have wealth. Those who worship Hari have no wealth, and previous wealth is taken away, generally. But sometimes devotees of Śiva attain the supreme abode and devotees of the Lord attain wealth.
- What spiritual expectation of mine has been inverted by experience?
- Where am I confused that doing more should yield more, but it does not?
Parīkṣit sees an upside-down ledger: Śiva's devotees walk out of the temple counting coins, and Hari's walk out empty-handed yet luminous. The paradox is the door of the chapter — like a child realizing the sweetest fruit on the tree is the one no one is climbing for.
My note
Source: vedabase.io