SB 4.2.14 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

प्रेतावासेषु घोरेषु प्रेतैर्भूतगणैर्वृत: । अटत्युन्मत्तवन्नग्नो व्युप्तकेशो हसन् रुदन् ॥ १४ ॥ चिताभस्मकृतस्‍नान: प्रेतस्रङ्‌न्रस्थिभूषण: । शिवापदेशो ह्यशिवो मत्तो मत्तजनप्रिय: । पति: प्रमथनाथानां तमोमात्रात्मकात्मनाम् ॥ १५ ॥

Verse text

pretāvāseṣu ghoreṣu pretair bhūta-gaṇair vṛtaḥ aṭaty unmattavan nagno vyupta-keśo hasan rudan citā-bhasma-kṛta-snānaḥ preta-sraṅ-nrasthi-bhūṣaṇaḥ śivāpadeśo hy aśivo matto matta-jana-priyaḥ patiḥ pramatha-nāthānāṁ tamo-mātrātmakātmanām

Synonyms

preta — āvāseṣu — at the burning places of dead bodies ; ghoreṣu — horrible ; pretaiḥ — by the Pretas ; bhūta — gaṇaiḥ — by the Bhūtas ; vṛtaḥ — accompanied by ; aṭati — he wanders ; unmatta — vat — like a madman ; nagnaḥ — naked ; vyupta — keśaḥ — having scattered hair ; hasan — laughing ; rudan — crying ; citā — of the funeral pyre ; bhasma — with the ashes ; kṛta — snānaḥ — taking bath ; preta — of the skulls of dead bodies ; srak — having a garland ; nṛ — asthi — bhūṣaṇaḥ — ornamented with dead men’s bones ; śiva — apadeśaḥ — who is śiva, or auspicious, only in name ; hi — for ; aśivaḥ — inauspicious ; mattaḥ — crazy ; matta — jana — priyaḥ — very dear to the crazy beings ; patiḥ — the leader ; pramatha — nāthānām — of the lords of the Pramathas ; tamaḥ — mātra — ātmaka — ātmanām — of those grossly in the mode of ignorance .

Translation

He lives in filthy places like crematoriums, and his companions are the ghosts and demons. Naked like a madman, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying, he smears crematorium ashes all over his body. He does not bathe regularly, and he ornaments his body with a garland of skulls and bones. Therefore only in name is he śiva, or auspicious; actually, he is the most mad and inauspicious creature. Thus he is very dear to crazy beings in the gross mode of ignorance, and he is their leader.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Naked like a madman, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying, he lives in filthy places like crematoriums, and surrounded by ghosts and demons, wanders about in horrible places of the dead. Using crematorium ashes as his bath, he ornaments his body with a garland of skulls and human bones. He is inauspicious though he has the false name Śiva. He is insane, dear to the insane, the leader of leaders of the insane, the leader of the most ignorant. This is but a pastime of Śiva, who is mad with prema for the Supreme Lord. Thus Dakṣa describes him to be “like a madman.” If he were actually mad, Dakṣa would have simply said “He is a madman.” According to other Purāṇas, smearing ashes on the body is an activity of exalted Vaiṣṇavas. By him even the worst places (apadeśa) become auspicious. There is no one greater than Śiva in auspiciousness (aśivaḥ). He is the leader of persons who are completely in ignorance. As praise it indicates that Śiva, as a pastime, by his will, accepts even the most ignorant out of mercy.

Purport

Those who do not regularly bathe are supposed to be in association with ghosts and crazy creatures. Lord Śiva appeared to be like that, but his name, Śiva, is actually fitting, for he is very kind to persons who are in the darkness of the mode of ignorance, such as unclean drunkards who do not regularly bathe. Lord Śiva is so kind that he gives shelter to such creatures and gradually elevates them to spiritual consciousness. Although it is very difficult to raise such creatures to spiritual understanding, Lord Śiva takes charge of them, and therefore, as stated in the Vedas, Lord Śiva is all-auspicious. Thus by his association even such fallen souls can be elevated. Sometimes it is seen that great personalities meet with fallen souls, not for any personal interest but for the benefit of those souls. In the creation of the Lord there are different kinds of living creatures. Some of them are in the mode of goodness, some are in the mode of passion, and some are in the mode of ignorance. Lord Viṣṇu takes charge of persons who are advanced Kṛṣṇa conscious Vaiṣṇavas, and Lord Brahmā takes charge of persons who are very much attached to material activities, but Lord Śiva is so kind that he takes charge of persons who are in gross ignorance and whose behavior is lower than that of the animals. Therefore Lord Śiva is especially called auspicious.