Guest: Is incense a form of intoxication?
Prabhupāda: Incense? No. Why intoxication?
Guest: I don't know.
Prabhupāda: Incense keeps the atmosphere very nice, fresh.
Guest: Very sweet-smelling.
Guru-kṛpā: This flower is not intoxicating.
Prabhupāda: It is just like in your country, what is that fragrance? Scent. Scent.
Guru-kṛpā: Perfume?
Prabhupāda: Perfume is very popular.
Guest: But I would have thought that in some ways it might have perform the same sort of function for some people as, say, smoking some cigarettes performs for others.
Prabhupāda: No.
Guest: In other words, it...
Prabhupāda: That depends on the particular man, what kind of flavor he wants. That is another thing. But there are different varieties of incense. Generally we use rose flavor, sandalwood flavor. We offer to the Deity room to keep the atmosphere very favorable. Originally in India it was dhūpa. They used to put in the fire some flavored hulls, and it was very nice. That has been transferred into now stick incense.