Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.88.18-19
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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nirvedāt
—
out of frustration
Ablative of nirveda. Same nirveda-root as v.9 — but here it leads to suicide rather than to sat-saṅga. The Bhāgavatam shows the fork: nirveda toward devotees yields life; nirveda toward self yields the hatchet.
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saptame ahani
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on the seventh day
Contiguous (saptame + ahani). Seven days of self-mutilation — a fixed period of asuric tapas. The chapter is precise about the timeline so the reader can see how Śiva's tolerance differs from Hari's.
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mahā-kāruṇikaḥ
—
supremely merciful
Contiguous (mahā + kāruṇikaḥ). Mahā-kāruṇya is genuinely Śiva's — the Bhāgavatam never strips him of this. Gauḍīyas read: he is the foremost Vaiṣṇava (SB 12.13.16) precisely because of this kāruṇya.
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dhūrjaṭiḥ
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Śiva, the one with heavy matted locks
Dhūr (load) + jaṭi (matted hair). Sweet, body-specific epithet for Mahādeva. The poet swings between cold (giriśa) and warm (dhūrjaṭi) names of Śiva across the chapter — affection coexists with critique.
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yathā vayam
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just as we would
Contiguous (yathā + vayam). Śuka's startling aside: Śiva acted 'just as we would' — viscerally, parentally. The Bhāgavatam's affectionate humanizing of Mahādeva even while diagnosing the structural error.
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sparśanāt
—
by (his) touch
Ablative of sparśana — touch. The very touch that heals Vṛka here will, by the boon Vṛka about to demand, become deadly. The chapter is wired with grim symmetry.
With a knife (sudhitina) he was about to cut off his own head whose hair was wet with water from that holy place. As we prevent a man from killing himself in grief, so Siva prevented Vrkasura from killing himself. Vrkasura’s body was restored (upaskrti akrtih).
Not seeing or attaining the presence of Śiva, his object of worship, out of great suffering, using a sword or hatchet, he was about to cut off his head which had completely wet hair from the holy water, since he took bath three times a day or took a special bath in order cut off his head. Since Śiva is endowed with all three guṇas, now sattva became prominent. Śiva was most merciful since he became compassionate even though Vṛka was most wicked. The word “we” simply indicates ordinary people. This suggests that Śiva gave up his conception of lordship because of his great mercy and acted like an ordinary person.
nOne Not seeing or attaining the presence of Śiva, his object of worship, out of great suffering, using a sword or hatchet, he was about to cut off his head which had completely wet hair from the holy water, since he took bath three times a day or took a special bath in order cut off his head. Since Śiva is endowed with all three guṇas, now sattva became prominent. Śiva was most merciful since he became compassionate even though Vṛka was most wicked. The word vayam simply indicates he acted like an ordinary people. This suggests that Śiva gave up his conception of lordship because of his great mercy and acted like an ordinary person.
A father who has wandered off catches his small child mid-swing of a kitchen knife, grabbing both wrists just before the cut — the rescue is reflex, not deliberation. Śiva rises out of the fire and seizes Vṛka's arms the way a parent does, mahā-kāruṇikaḥ. The same speed (sadyaḥ, v.12) that makes him an unsafe granter makes him a tender catcher.
My note
Source: vedabase.io