Chakratirtha Baba sitting in front of his dhuni. This photo was taken on November 30, 2010. The winter cold had already begun, hence he was wearing the turban on his head.

You can see the stainless steel tiffin carrier next to him on the left, which he carries with him wherever he goes. He uses it as a kamandalu to hold water, wash his mouth, take bath, and drink water from. He has carried that with him everywhere he has gone.

Baba would always drink the water from the creek next to him, even when it would have sediments in it from heavy flow during the rainy season. He would use that stainless steel tiffin carrier kamandalu to scoop up water from the creek next to his dhuni and drink it. A few times in the early years I had tried to introduce gravity-fed ceramic candle water filters to the ashram, mainly for the visitors, but it never worked out as Baba only wanted to drink directly from the creek.

He also told me, “Sadhus never drink water from hand pumps. Only from flowing water or open wells.” At the time I had wondered why there was a prohibition for sadhus to drink water from hand pumps. Later I researched the topic and found every hand pump uses a leather washer inside it, which makes the water unclean for sadhus, and that is why in the sadhu community at one point there was a restriction on using them. Nowadays most sadhus do not follow that rule as strictly as in the past.

On the topic of kamandalu (water pot), Baba has told me, “A sadhu has five possessions. Kaupīna (loincloth), Kambala (blanket), Karatāla (hand cymbols for kirtan), Kaṇṭhī (neck beads, tulasi or rudraksha), and Kamaṇḍalu (a water pot).”

Adi Shankaracharya has written a stotra called Kaupina Panchakam, where he glorifies sadhus. There he states:

kaupīnavantaḥ khalu bhāgyavantaḥ

“Truly fortunate are those who wear nothing but a loincloth (kaupina).”

Why are the kaupina-dharis fortunate? By their very lifestyle they are surrounded by sadhu sanga twenty-four hours a day, of which even one moment’s worth has the potential to grant sarva siddhi, complete perfection:

‘sādhu-saṅga’, ‘sādhu-saṅga’ — sarva-śāstre kaya
lava-mātra sādhu-saṅge sarva-siddhi haya

“The verdict of all revealed scriptures is that by even a moment’s association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success.” – Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.22.54

According to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the great fortune (bhagya) is to be blessed by a guru, who can deliver the mercy of Lord Krishna and establish the seed of bhakti in one’s heart:

brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva
guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja

“While wandering throughout the universe, some fortunate living entity, by the grace of guru and Krishna, receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.” – Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.19.151

Therefore, “kaupīnavantaḥ khalu bhāgyavantaḥ”, the one who wears kaupina is truly fortunate, bhagyavan. He has access to that sadhu sanga, which brings sarva siddhi through the mercy of guru and Krishna. Simply by wearing a kaupina cloth one does not become fortunate, but those who wear the kaupina cloth are excessively fortunate by virtue of the association with sadhus they are naturally surronded by.

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