126
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
[Canto 4, Ch. 4]
ed hair;  śmaśāne —in the crematorium;  tat-mālya-bhasma-nṛkapālī —who is garlanded with human skulls and smeared with ashes;  avasat —associated;  piśācaiḥ —with demons;  ye —who;  mūrdhabhiḥ —with the head;  dadhati —place;  tat-caraṇa-avasṛṣṭam —fallen from his lotus feet.
TRANSLATION
Do you think that greater, more respectable personalities than you, such as Lord Brahmā, do not know this inauspicious person who goes under the name of Lord Śiva? He associates with the demons in the crematorium, his locks of hair are scattered all over his body, he is garlanded with human skulls and smeared with ashes from the crematorium, but in spite of all these inauspicious qualities, great personalities like Brahmā honor him by accepting the flowers offered to his lotus feet and placing them with great respect on their heads.
PURPORT
It is useless to condemn a great personality like Lord Śiva, and this is being stated by his wife, Satī, to establish the supremacy of her husband. First she said, “You call Lord Śiva inauspicious because he associates with demons in crematoriums, covers his body with the ashes of the dead and garlands himself with the skulls of human beings. You have shown so many defects, but you do not know that his position is always transcendental. Although he appears inauspicious, why do personalities like Brahmā respect the dust of his lotus feet and place on their heads with great respect those very garlands which are condemned by you?” Since Satī was a chaste woman and the wife of Lord Śiva, it was her duty to establish the elevated position of Lord Śiva, not only by sentiment but by facts. Lord Śiva is not an ordinary living entity. This is the conclusion of Vedic scripture. He is neither on the level of the Supreme Personality of Godhead nor on the level of the ordinary living entities. Brahmā is in almost all cases an ordinary living entity. Sometimes, when there is no ordinary living entity available, the post of Brahmā is occupied by an expansion of Lord Viṣṇu, but generally this post is occupied by a greatly pious living entity within this universe. Thus constitutionally Lord Śiva’s position is higher than that of Lord Brahmā, although Lord Śiva appeared as the son of Brahmā. Here it is mentioned that even personalities like Brahmā accept the so-called inauspicious flowers and the dust of the lotus feet of Lord Śiva. Great sages like Marīci, Atri, Bhṛgu and the other nine great sages who are descendants of Brahmā also respect Lord Śiva in