Reading Notes PDE Mahabharata: The Gambling Match Part B

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata: The Gambling Match by Donald A. Mackenzie

                                     (Roulette Wheel: Image from Wikimedia Commons)     

     This story is interesting in that it is following a common trend that I have noticed. The way the kings and gods are portrayed in these stories is much different then those in western stories. The gods and kings in these stories are like normal people with anger and jealousy and rage. You often see in western stories that gods and kings and royalty can not make mistakes, they are incapable of human actions and are portrayed as above humans. This is probably the reason so many people blindly follow them and idealize them. However, it is possible for the exact same reason that the Indian people idolize their kings and gods, because they are no different then them and are capable of the same emotions. In this story I have found another common theme, unlike in some stories where rage is showed as violence, in this story rage is shown by knowledge and deceit. Instead of Duryodhana calling in an army to attack Yudhishthira and his land he invites him to gamble. However, he is very tricky and has rigged the game to win every time. One thing I found strange was that Yudhishthira never questioned anything that was happening like how Duryodhana had his uncle role the dice for him or how out of the many games they played Yudhishthira did not win a single one. It is unlikely to win zero games out of many even when gambling and Yudhishthira should have been more cautious before he gave away everything. Vidura tries to help his nephew Yudhishthira by explaining that he set himself free before gambling away his wife and that she could not be taken however his help does not work.