Prasāda (Sanskrit), prasād (Hindi) or prasādam (Tamil) is both a mental condition of generosity, as well as a material substance that is first offered to a deity and then consumed with the faith that the deity's blessing resides within it. In contemporary Hindu religious practice in India, the desire to get prasada and have darshan (cross referenced) are the two major motivations of pilgrimage and temple visits.

As a mental condition, prasāda has a rich history of meanings in the Sanskrit tradition from Vedic literature onwards. In this textual tradition, prasada is a mental state experienced by gods, sages, and other powerful beings which is marked by spontaneous generosity and the bestowing of boons. Prasāda is understood in this sense of a mental state from the earliest literature (Rig Veda) onwards --

In its material sense, prasada is created by a process of giving and receiving between a human devotee and the divine. For example, a devotee makes an offering of a material substance such as flowers, fruits, or sweets -- which is called 'naivedya'. The deity then 'enjoys' or tastes a bit of the offering, which is then temporarily known as 'bhogya'. This now-divinely invested substance is called 'prasāda", and is received by the devotee to be ingested, worn, etc. It may be the same material that was originally offered, or material offered by others and then re-distributed to other devotees.

As a 'leftover substance', prasada is special because it is understood as being invested with divine grace or blessing. This is in stark contrast to the status of any leftover portions of ordinary foods as they are considered ritually impure (jutha). According