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The Nectar of Devotion
not do any of the above-mentioned three processes, he falls down from his position of devotion.
Tilaka, Tulasī Beads and Flower Garlands
In the  Padma Purāṇa  there is a statement describing how a  Vaiṣṇava  should decorate his body with  tilaka  and beads: “Persons who put  tulasī  beads on the neck, who mark twelve places of their body as Viṣṇu temples with Viṣṇu’s symbolic representations [the four items held in the four hands of Lord Viṣṇu—conch, mace, disk and lotus], and who have Viṣṇu  tilaka  on their forehead, are to be understood as the devotees of Lord Viṣṇu in this world. Their presence makes the world purified, and anywhere they remain they make that place as good as Vaikuṇṭha.”
A similar statement is in the  Skanda Purāṇa , which says: “Persons who are decorated with  tilaka  or  gopī-candana  [a kind of clay resembling fuller’s earth which is produced in certain quarters of Vṛndāvana], and who mark their bodies all over with the holy names of the Lord, and on whose neck and breast there are  tulasī  beads, are never approached by the  Yama-dūtas .” The  Yama-dūtas  are the constables of King Yama (the Lord of death), who punishes all sinful men.  Vaiṣṇavas  are never called for by such constables of Yamarāj. In the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , in the narration of Ajāmila’s deliverance, it is said that Yamarāj gave clear instructions to his assistants not to approach the  Vaiṣṇavas .  Vaiṣṇavas  are beyond the jurisdiction of Yamarāj’s activities.
In the  Padma Purāṇa  it is also mentioned: “A person whose body is decorated with the pulp of sandalwood, with paintings of the holy name of the Lord, is delivered from all sinful reactions, and after his death he goes directly to Kṛṣṇa-loka to live in association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
The next instruction is that one should put on flower garlands which are offered to the Deity. In this connection, in the Eleventh Canto, 6th Chapter, 31st verse, of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam , Uddhava says to Kṛṣṇa, “My dear Kṛṣṇa, I have taken things which You have used