As per Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who is currently the Incumbent Shankaracharya of the Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotish Pītham or Jyotir Math (situated in Uttarakhand; one of the four cardinal pitham established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya). - the asht-daaridras are nothing but the opposite of the ashta-Lakshmis (or asht-aishvaryas).
Reference - See this video
This blog-site (which is perhaps by an amateur follower of the Sanatan-dharm but nevertheless), besides giving other interpretation, also succinctly summarizes the authoritative commentary by the Jyotir-math's Shankaracharya as linked in the video above -
In some traditions, the eight forms of poverty (aṣṭadaridra) are as
follows:
a. annadaridra — lack of food
b. vastradaridra — lack of clothing
c. nivāsadaridra — lack of shelter
d. bhūmidaridra — lack of territory
(either one’s own plot of land, or more broadly, a lack of country)
e. santatīdaridra — lack of family or progeny
f. sampattidaridra — lack of
good fortune
g. āpteṣṭadaridra — lack of the fruits of worship (āpta,
“reach, attain”; iṣṭa, “worshipped with sacrifices”)
h. mitraparivāradaridra — lack of a community of friends.
Some lists also
include jñānadaridra (lack of wisdom), and vivekadaridra (lack of
discrimination, the ability to discern the spiritual from the
material).
Other traditions associate the eight poverties with the eight forms of
the goddess of wealth, Lakṣmī.
Each form of Lakṣmī embodies a
particular kind of wealth, and the eight forms of poverty are the lack
of those types of wealth. The eight forms of Lakṣmī are as follows:
- ādilakṣmī — abundance of spiritual merit
- dhānyalakṣmī — abundance of
grain (food)
- vīralakṣmī — abundance of bravery
- gajalakṣmī — abundance
of livestock
- santanalakṣmī — abundance of progeny
- vijayalakṣmī —
abundance of victory (in overcoming obstacles)
- vidyālakṣmī — abundance
of knowledge
- dhanalakṣmī — abundance of money
Thus asht-daaridras maybe inferred as to be antonyms of the opulences signified by the asht-Lakshmis as follows -
- Spiritual Poverty.
- Food Poverty.
- Courage Poverty.
- Livestock Poverty.
- Progeny Poverty
- Success Poverty
- Knowledge and Wisdom Poverty
- Monetary Poverty.
Regarding the authorship of the Lingashtakam, several researchers both traditional or heterodox, assign it to Shri Adi Shankaracharya, but then again, it can't be proved in 100% terms. At best. we can say that sometimes the Lingashtakam's authorship is attributed to Adi-Sankara by some scholars while others assign it to unknown/untraceable authorship too.
Nevertheless, it is a beautiful composition.
