harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt
puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ
sa sarva-dṛg upadraṣṭā
taḿ bhajan nirguṇo bhavet
harih -- the Supreme Lord Hari; hi -- indeed; nirgunah -- untouched by the material modes; sakshat -- absolutely; purushah -- the Personality of Godhead; prakriteh -- to material nature; parah -- transcendental; sah -- He; sarva -- everything; drik -- seeing; upadrashta -- the witness; tam -- Him; bhajan -- by worshiping; nirgunah -- free from the material modes; bhavet -- one becomes.
Lord Vishnu is situated in His own transcendental position, beyond the material energy. Why, therefore, should His worship bear the fruit of material opulence? The real fruit of worshiping Lord Vishnu is transcendental knowledge. Thus Lord Vishnu's worshiper gains the eye of transcendental knowledge instead of being blinded by mundane assets. The Lord being the detached witness of the material creation, His devotee also becomes aloof from the interaction of the Lord's inferior energies.
Srila Sridhara Svami cites the following passage from the Vedic literature:
vastuno guna-sambandhe
rupa-dvayam iheshyate
tad-dharmayoga-yogabhyam
bimba-vat pratibimba-vat
"When the absolute reality associates with the modes of nature, He assumes two different kinds of form in this world, according to whether His spiritual qualities are manifest or not. Thus He acts just like a reflection and its further, secondary reflection."
gunah sattvadayah santa-
ghora-mudhah svabhavatah
vishnu-brahma-sivanam ca
guna-yantri-svarupinam
"The modes of goodness, passion and ignorance, whose individual natures are peaceful, violent and foolish, are personally regulated by Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, respectively."
nati-bhedo bhaved bhedo
guna-dharmair ihamsatah
sattvasya santya no jatu
vishnor vikshepa-mudhate
"Lord Vishnu's peaceful mode of goodness does not differ substantially from His original, spiritual qualities, although it is only a partial manifestation of them within this world. Thus Lord Vishnu's mode of goodness is never tainted by agitation [in passion] or delusion [in ignorance]."
rajas-tamo-gunabhyam tu
bhavetam brahma-rudrayoh
gunopamardato bhuyas
tad-amsanam ca bhinnata
"By the modes of passion and ignorance, on the other hand, the original, spiritual qualities of Lord Brahma and Lord Rudra are obscured. Thus these spiritual qualities appear only partially, as separated, material qualities."
atah samagra-sattvasya
vishnor moksha-kari matih
amsato bhuti-hetus ca
tathananda-mayi svatah
"Therefore focusing one's consciousness upon Lord Vishnu, the embodiment of all goodness, leads one to liberation. Such God consciousness also generates material success as a by-product, but its proper nature is pure spiritual ecstasy."
amsatas taratamyena
brahma-rudradi-sevinam
vibhutayo bhavanty eva
sanair moksho py anamsatah
"According to their mode of worship, devotees of Brahma, Rudra and other demigods obtain the limited success of material opulences. Eventually they may possibly become qualified for full liberation."
This same idea is echoed in the following statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.23): sreyamsi tatra khalu sattva-tanor nrinam syuh. "Of these three [Brahma, Vishnu and Siva], all human beings can derive ultimate benefit from Vishnu, the form of the quality of goodness."