Diwali
as we all know is a festival of lights. A festival which has its religious
ceremonies, but is also marked by festivities, which involves, food, new
dresses, rangolis (This is Utkarsh Speaking: Rangoli), illuminating homes and bursting crackers.
However curiously, it also marks the legitimacy of gambling. On the night of
Diwali, tradition has it that gambling is a must and young and old, all sit
together to gamble.
Where
do we look at, to find clues, but mythology?
Though
not much is found as a clue, there is but one instance of Goddess Parvati
playing dice with Lord Shiva on the night of Diwali. According to this myth, on
this night, Lord Shiva and Parvati played the game of dice and Shiva lost, then
son Kartikeya played and defeated Parvati. After this Ganesha played with
Kartikeya and defeated him. Since then gambling on this day is considered to be
a family past time and one day, when this is acceptable. Some legends also
mention that Parvati was cheating during the game and Shiva is supposed to have
caught her hand when he found her cheating. This famous episode from mythology
has been beautifully carved in one of the caves of Ellora, India, shown below –
According
to the legend, Parvati is supposed to said, that anybody who does not gamble on
the night of Diwali, would be born as a donkey in his/her next birth!
I
find this practice and its association with the legend nothing but a
contradiction. Diwali is traditionally a day when we worship wealth in the form
of Goddess Lakshmi. This is a day when you light diyas and illuminate your homes to enable the goddess to spot your
house and step into it, thus ushering in a year of prosperity. Gambling away
wealth on this day is a contradiction of sorts. How does one justify such
flimsy usage (or misuse?) of wealth and that too on this day? Wouldn’t it be
dangerous to spite her by ensuring that you gamble ‘her’ on this day?
Some
have taken a high moral ground, by giving a philosophical interpretation to it.
According to this school of thought, gambling on this day is to test one’s
sense of control. One’s ability to keep dice as dice and not change it to a vice
is being tested on this day. Sounds good, but just another justification for
indulging in a vice, which is known for bringing down empires and the worst in mankind,
and one doesn’t need to go far, mythology itself has a few obvious examples,
the epic Mahabharata for one. Also, the myth referring to Shiva-Parvati playing
dice does not mention anything about stakes, so justifying gambling of wealth
is thus out of place.
Traditional painting depicting Shiva-Parvati playing Chaupar |
Diwali
is a festival which has lots to celebrate about. Let’s all do it with the right
spirit. Wealth is an important but temporary resource, and it pays to value it.
Hindus are probably the only community which worships wealth, and this is done out
of respect for it as against a crass display of materialism. I don’t think we
should look for false pretexts to abuse it. A vice is a vice is a vice and
there can be no two ways about it. Needless to say, that Lakshmi, is also known
as ‘chanchala’ or the restless-one –
I would rather find ways to make her stay at my place for ever, than allow her
to leave me by disrespecting her!!
My
views on gambling are not didactic in nature, but to take recourse to mythology
to justify such actions is quite unfair. Gambling, per se, is an act of
individual choice, but keep it that way. Don’t look for vague justifications!
Enjoy
your Diwali, and take good care of the Goddess Lakshmi and don’t bet on her!!
Wow, these infos are new to me, thanks for sharing these diwali legends, they are so fun to read. Happy deepavali!
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