Bhagavata Purana 4.4.16
Srimad Bhagavatam · 4 · Verse 16
Sanskrit Original
किं वा शिवाख्यमशिवं न विदुस्त्वदन्ये ब्रह्मादयस्तमवकीर्य जटा: श्मशाने । तन्माल्यभस्मनृकपाल्यवसत्पिशाचै- र्ये मूर्धभिर्दधति तच्चरणावसृष्टम् ॥ १६ ॥
kiṁ vā śivākhyam aśivaṁ na vidus tvad anye brahmādayas tam avakīrya jaṭāḥ śmaśāne tan-mālya-bhasma-nṛkapāly avasat piśācair ye mūrdhabhir dadhati tac-caraṇāvasṛṣṭam
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 Lord Śiva? He associates with the demons in the crematorium, his locks of hair are scattered all over his body, and 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.