74 The Nectar of Devotion

not do any of the above-mentioned three processes, he falls down
from his position of devotion.

Tilaka, Tulasi Beads and Flower Garlands

In the Padma Purana there is a statement describing how a
Vaisnava should decorate his body with tilaka and beads: “Persons
who put tulast beads on the neck, who mark twelve places of
their body as Visnu temples with Visnu’s symbolic representations
[the four items held in the four hands of Lord Visnu—conch, mace,
disk and lotus], and who have Visnu tilaka on their forehead, are to
be understood as the devotees of Lord Visnu in this world. Their
presence makes the world purified, and anywhere they remain they
make that place as good as Vaikuntha.”

A similar statement is in the Skanda Purdna, which says: “Per-
sons who are decorated with tilaka or gopi-candana [a kind of clay
resembling fuller’s earth which is produced in certain quarters of
Vrndavana], and who mark their bodies all over with the holy names
of the Lord, and on whose neck and breast there are tulasi beads, are
never approached by the Yama-ditas.”” The Yama-dittas are the con-
stables of King Yama (the Lord of death), who punishes all sinful
men. Vaisnavas are never called for by such constables of Yamaraj.
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, in the narration of Ajamila’s deliverance,
it is said that Yamaraj gave clear instructions to his assistants not to
approach the Vaisnavas. Vaisnavas are beyond the jurisdiction of
Yamaraj’s activities.

In the Padma Purana 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 Krsna-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 Srimad-Bhagavatam, Uddhava says
to Krsna, ““My dear Krsna, I have taken things which You have used
