Originally posted by: ..RamKiJanaki..
I never understood this either. Even in the epic, there are no instances of Yudhisthir being addicted to gambling before the dyut sabha. There are no instances of him even playing dice. Even in the dyut sabha, he was not addicted to the game but kept playing to win everything back, particularly when he lost brother after brother. Was it a mistake, was it wrong of him? Most definitely, but that doesn't quite make him addicted to dice. Addiction is something totally different. Trust me, I know what addiction looks like, working in the mental health field, and Yudhisthira did not have a gambling addiction. In my opinion, his main mistake came when he started betting his brothers and did not stop until he bet Draupadi. Even betting his kingdom and riches paled in comparison, as those truly did belong to him and thus were within his right to bet, but his brothers and Draupadi were not, and that's where he messed up. I think from Yudhisthir's POV, he felt so guilty about losing his family's home and wealth that he continued playing to win them all back, and thus fell in Dhritarashtra, Duryodhan and Shakuni's trap. He should have stopped, and that's where he made the first major mistake of his life. But that doesn't make him an addicted gambler.
I blame BRC's Mahabharata for this wrong perception, as their version of dyut sabha did portray Yudhisthira as a gambler with no care for his family, no guilt or remorse for anything he did. In this respect, SP's Mahabharat showed a more relatable Yudhisthir, one who was desperate to fix his mistakes but didn't know how once he fell into the trap. We can relate to a character who makes mistakes but has the right intentions, but we cannot relate to a character who has no remorse.
Janaki and Kishori, Dharmaraj the King of Virtue played the dice game many times , esp, after losing the second time for which he forced to do Vanvas for 12 years and 1 year Ajnatavas! The first instance was full of arrogance, anguish cruelty, sorrow, insult, and pacifications! Draupadi the lady of fire, got back her freedom and her five husbands' freedom and the kingdom for her husband Dharmaraj because of her wisdom and because of the fear of destruction in the minds of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari!But at that time in that full court, she reprimanded him for his addiction to gambling, the entire court heard her bitter recriminations in that sorrowful situation! She even declared that it is Krishna who is the only recourse for her in that helpless situation, she said that clearly to her husbands. Questioned the integrity of the elders like Bheeshma , Drona, Kripacharya etc in that waxing furious state!
After all this fiasco Dharmaraj again tempted to play Dice game with Duryodhan and Shakuni for the second time!!
Dharmaraj's knowledge of scriptures is vast, although he is somewhat deficient in practical sense. This Epic was full of human fallacies corrected by Divine interventions!
Yes, I find everywhere it is fate that played an important role in everyone life in this Epic! Yudhishtra had a weakness for the game of dice, or more correctly, for gambling. this was the tragic flaw in the character of Dharmaj ,though it was the accepted norm for the Royals to accept the invitation to the game of dice/ gambling, and any refusal would be construed either as being rude, or a sign of cowardice! And at that time Dharmaraj was considered as a great player of this game . He only lost because of Shakuni's deceit. Shakuni, the master schemer as he was, knowingly exploited Dharmaj's weakness. why Yudi chose to play the game of dice after all that ruination, its difficult to understand why a person of his character and caliber should become so obsessive to pledge all his wealth, kingdom, his own brothers and even his queen. It is here the role of Destiny or Fate comes into play!
So, it was a combination of his weakness for gambling,the tenets of Kshatriya dharma and, last but not the least important, the Destiny, which forced Yudi to accept the challenge to play the game of dice second time, even though he was fully aware of underlying traps and deceitful schemes.
According to Vyas Mahabharat, after Yudhishthir had lost everything in the first dice game, the repentant Dhritarashtra gave him back all that he had staked. When the Pandavas were returning to Indraprastha, Dhritarashtra, egged on by Duryodhan , summoned Yudi for another game of dice. In this second dice game too Yudhishthir lost and, as its consequence, the Pandavs were exile!
Satyena vitata sukrtasya pantha,-- say the Upanishads. The path to immortality is paved with the truth. Every step you take in the direction of immortality has to be a step taken on the path of truth.Dharmaraj accepted his weakness in front of his brothers and wife later while they suffering in the forest. But again he entered as Kanka into Virat raj court as the Dice player because he was an expert in the game of dice, he would become the member of the royal assembly of Virata , Yudi claimed that casting the dice at his will, to entertain the king and others play the game in the gambling hall!
There are vices and virtues in every part of this Epic, a big puzzle of human life where every piece as a character occupied its place for a purpose with a decicive fate !
Perhaps the whole Mahabharata is a book on Samsara, a book on Maya and its alluringly illusory ways of life!
We were tempted to have our strong views on a particular character for his vices or for his/or her virtues! Different perspectives on this vast canvas of life at that Yug ! I worship Krishna and adore Draupadi and Arjun most but admire Bheem , Nakul and Shadev for their unquestionable love for Draupadi! Happy to know many aspects of this great Epic which has a historical prominence in our lives , and in a way a guiding force to every pious person, a steering light to every philosopher, both Eastern and Western philosophers influenced by this epic . It is extremely unique and fascinating. It covers a time span ranging almost infinity. But, it has lots of relevance, to today's life. In the narrative, plots and subplots are intertwined. The characters are absolutely real neither good nor bad all the times except Sri Krishna. But good and bad are in continuation. The good has their moments of baseness and the evil touch magnanimity. One wonders at times, whether the so-called evil is a perpetrator as he is portrayed or a victim. You empathize with their inner turmoil! Thanks a lot to Janaki , Shree ,Kishori and Krishna Priya for presenting many valuable points through your posts and pointing out a few mistakes of mine for my understanding this Epic.
Janaki , yes I watched BR Mahabharath as a child , and later once unknowingly I watched Ekta Kapoor's Mahabharath for few minutes and stopped before I turned in to an insane one , then decided not to view any other version of this Epic on TV . Mostly they produced these Mytho serials for trps and for the scalability of their business. I consider it a sin . My opinions are mostly based on Vyas Mahabharath and few other scriptures, Dr. S Radhakrishnan's Bhagavad Gita , Mahabharatha , The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee ,yajnaseni , the story of Draupadi -- by Pratibha Ray ,yuganta by Irawati Karve and a few more books . I only watched Balika Vadhu Hindi serial and later stopped watching these sas bahu serials, because I have a serious work to do. 😊 Basically, I am a dreamer with strong convictions, so settled with Radha Krishna love and adoring the all-powerful Draupadi, but inherently an inquisitive reader of Upanishads , and Puranas,trying to understand Bhagavad Gita since long, hoping will be able to understand at least a speck of it in this life.
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