Upanishads · Kaṭharudra 1
॥
Devanāgarī
कुण्डिकां चमसं शिक्यं त्रिविष्टमुपानहौ । शीतोपघातिनीं कन्थां कौपीनाच्छादनं तथा
Transliteration (IAST)
kuṇḍikāṃ camasaṃ śikyaṃ triviṣṭamupānahau | śītopaghātinīṃ kanthāṃ kaupīnācchādanaṃ tathā
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
कुण्डिकां चमसं शिक्यंkuṇḍikāṃ camasaṃ śikyaṃa water-pot, a bowl, a strap
त्रि-विष्टम् उपानहौtri-viṣṭam upānahaua triple staff, footwear
शीत-उपघातिनीं कन्थांśīta-upaghātinīṃ kanthāṃa rag protecting from cold
कौपीन-आच्छादनं तथाkaupīna-ācchādanaṃ tathāand likewise a loincloth
Translation
A water-pot, a bowl, a strap, a triple staff, footwear, a rag protecting from cold, and likewise a loincloth …
Version
65c864068889 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Verses begin, and the first two are an inventory of the renounced one's property: what he has and what he must cast off. What is listed here is his whole belongings: a pot for water, a bowl for alms, a strap for carrying them on the shoulder, a staff, footwear, a rag against cold, and a loincloth. Seven items, all the barest necessities.
It is worth noting the soberness of this list. It is not said "have nothing"; it is said that he has these. Even the most extreme renunciation in these books does not reach nakedness and hunger: water must be carried, alms must be received into something, and in winter a person grows cold.
The Vaiṣṇava side follows the same reckoning and holds her own rule, worth naming. The renounced is permitted to have what is needed for service and for the body, and not permitted what is stored "just in case." The measure here is not the number of things, but why they are kept: a pot is carried because one drinks; a stockpile is kept because one fears.
A separate word is worth saying about the word śikya, "strap, net-carrier on a cord." Vessels were placed in it and hung on the staff over the shoulder; in India it can still be seen among wanderers today. So walks the renounced: staff, net, bowl — all his property on one shoulder.