Further Consideration of Devotional Principles
85
In the  Nṛsiṁha Purāṇa  it is stated: “Any person who comes before the Deity of Lord Kṛṣṇa and begins to chant different prayers is immediately relieved from all the reactions of sinful activities and becomes eligible, without any doubt, to enter into the Vaikuṇṭha-loka.”
Partaking of Prasādam
There is this specific statement in the  Padma Purāṇa : “A person who honors the  prasādam  and regularly eats it, not exactly in front of the Deity, along with  caraṇāmṛtam  [the water offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, which is mixed with seeds of the  tulasī  tree], immediately can achieve the results of pious activities which are obtained through ten thousand performances of sacrificial rites.”
Caraṇāmṛtam  is obtained in the morning while the Lord is being washed before dressing. Scented with perfumes and flowers, the water comes gliding down through His lotus feet and is collected and mixed with yogurt. In this way this  caraṇāmṛtam  not only becomes very tastefully flavored, but it also has tremendous spiritual value. It is described in the  Padma Purāṇa  that even a person who has never been able to give in charity, who has never been able to perform a great sacrifice, who has never been able to study the  Vedas , who has never been able to worship the Lord—or, in other words, even one who has never done any pious activities—if he simply drinks the  caraṇāmṛtam  which is kept in the temple, he will become eligible to enter into the kingdom of God. In the temple it is the custom that the  caraṇāmṛtam  be kept in a big pot. The devotees who come to visit and offer respects to the Deity very submissively take three drops of  caraṇāmṛtam  and feel themselves happy in transcendental bliss.
Smelling the Incense
In the  Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya  there is a statement about the incense which is offered in the temple: “When the devotees smell the good flavor of the incense which is offered to the Deity, they thus