Text 24] Prahlada, the Saintly Son of Hiranyakasipu 259

one should not worship the Deity until one has digested his food, nor
should one touch the Deity or engage in any Deity worship after eating
safflower oil or hing. These are also offenses.

In other places, the following offenses are listed: (a) to be against the
scriptural injunctions of the Vedic literature or to disrespect within one’s
heart the Srimad-Bhaégavatam while externally falsely accepting its
principles, (b) to introduce differing Sdstras, (c) to chew pan and betel
before the Deity, (d) to keep flowers for worship on the leaf of a castor
oil plant, (e) to worship the Deity in the afternoon, (f) to sit on the altar
or to sit on the floor to worship the Deity (without a seat), (g) to touch
the Deity with the left hand while bathing the Deity, (A) to worship the
Deity with a stale or used flower, (i) to spit while worshiping the Deity,
(j) to advertise one’s glory while worshiping the Deity, (k) to apply
tilaka to one’s forehead in a curved way, (J) to enter the temple without
having washed one’s feet, (m) to offer the Deity food cooked by an
uninitiated person, (n) to worship the Deity and offer bhoga to the Deity
within the vision of an uninitiated person or non-Vaisnava, (0) to offer
worship to the Deity without worshiping Vaikuntha deities like Ganesa,
(p) to worship the Deity while perspiring, (q) to refuse flowers offered
to the Deity, (r) to take a vow or oath in the holy name of the Lord.

If one commits any of the above offenses, one must read at least one
chapter of Bhagavad-gita. This is confirmed in the Skanda-Purana,
Avanti-khanda. Similarly, there is another injunction, stating that one
who reads the thousand names of Visnu can be released from all
offenses. In the same Skanda-Purdna, Reva-khanda, it is said that one
who recites prayers to tulasi or sows a tulasi seed is also freed from all
offenses. Similarly, one who worships the sdlagrama-sila can also be
relieved of offenses. In the Brahmdnda Purana it is said that one who
worships Lord Visnu, whose four hands bear a conchshell, disc, lotus
flower and club, can be relieved from the above offenses. In the Adi-
varaha Purana it is said that a worshiper who has committed offenses
may fast for one day at the holy place known as Saukarava and then
bathe in the Ganges.

In the process of worshiping the Deity it is sometimes enjoined that
one worship the Deity within the mind. In the Padma Purana, Uttara-
khanda, it is said, “All persons can generally worship within the mind.”
The Gautamiya Tantra states, “For a sannydsi who has no home,
