An integral part of Vedic culture is smell (gandha), which, like incense, is nowdays thought to be the exclusive domain of the esoteric, alternative, New Age set. But smell is mentioned throughout Vedic literature as an essential part of worship. ‘An associate of the Lord is one whose body is fully engaged in the service of the Lord. A materialist might see Sanatana Gosvami’s body as being full of itching sores that exuded foul moisture and a bad smell. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, said that actually the aroma of his body was the excellent scent of a mixture of sandalwood pulp, camphor, musk and aguru. In the Garuda Purana this mixture, which is called catuhamsa, is described as follows: ‘Two parts of musk, four parts of sandalwood, three parts of aguru or saffron and one part of camphor, when mixed together, form catuhsama.’ The aroma of catuhsama is very pleasing. It is also mentioned in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa (6).” (CC, Antya, 4.197, purport).