Nala Damayanti – Concluding Part

In the previous part we read about the love story of Nala Damayanti, how they met, married and separated and met again to live happily ever after. 

Let us look at the significance of this tale and its placement from a narrative perspective.

When Yudhishtir had lost his kingdom and he was sent to exile for thirteen years along with his four brothers and Draupadi, he was suffering from extreme self-pity. He could not reconcile with what he had done and how his actions had led to the pitiable state of his brothers and wife. It was important to bring him out of the self-pity mode and have him overcome this grief, which was being made evident in his brother’s eyes and Draupadi’s untied hair.

While in exile Sage Bhardwaj comes to meet the Pandavs and in his moment of self-pity, Yudhishtir asks the sage, if there was any king before him, who was as unfortunate like him, who had lost his kingdom and everything and was driven out to exile. He felt that there was none as unfortunate as him and though he followed the path of Dharma, he was in such a sorry state. It is at this stage that the sage tells him this story and makes him realize that he was still better off, as he had his brothers and his wife with him, while Nala was all alone.

The similarities between Nala and Yudhishtir were quite striking. Both had beautiful wives, both had a weakness for the dice and both were not very good at it and both lost their kingdoms in the game of dice. In the case of Yudhishtir, the dice were doctored by Shakuni and in the case of Nala, Kali had played foul. At the end of the game, both are driven to exile, while Nala spent twelve years in exile, Yudhishtir had an additional year.

Nala became the charioteer of the King of Ayodhya and Yudhishtir became the personal assistant of King Virata. What is equally significant is that during exile both Nala and Yudhishtir master the skill of playing dice with the respective kings that they were serving. Nala’s disfigurement could be seen as similar to the last year of disguise that Yudhishtir had to undertake while serving King Virat, just as Draupadi was serving the Queen in disguise similar to Damayanti serving the Queen without their knowledge of who the two ladies were.

It is said that when Nala lost everything at the game of dice, his brother had suggested that he stake Damayanti, but Nala declined. While here Nala differs from Yudhishtir, Nala still does stake Damayanti later. Both do stake their wives, one out of sheer desperation, while the other out of confidence; one when his was weak while the other when he was strong in the game.

According to Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya, a prolific writer on Mahabharata, the tales have an important difference. The tale of Nala Damayanti is a pure romance with all the romantic trappings. It stands out to be a stark difference from the original flow of the epic, especially in the treatment of Damayanti and Draupadi. While Draupadi’s character is strong and determined, Damayanti comes out as a soft and a quiet woman, thought she occasionally does display the typical traits of a ‘Vyasan’ woman, like when she refuses the gods to marry Nala. This could be a case of the story being told by a young Vyasa! The initial wooing through a swan, the magical powers of Nala the pining of Damayanti, are all a case of a classic romantic tale and that sure does make a significant diversion from an otherwise mature tale of the Pandav’s in the epic.

The tale of Nala Damayanti has been rewritten in many forms as standalone romance and I too came across the tale as a romantic story that warmed the cockles of my (then young) heart!!

But as I mentioned at the beginning of the article, one shouldn’t miss the significance and the positioning of the story in the epic, which had its own rationale in the narrative.

Diwali and Gambling

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!!

A Game of Dice

A recent research on Shakuni made me focus on the game of dice. Why is the game of dice so important and integral to some of the myths in our mythology? Also are there any other references of the game of dice other than that of Mahabharata? Let’s see.

The significance of the game of dice has been read by one and all. The visual depiction of the game too has been viewed by many. The game of dice and the vice of gambling associated with it is evident in the way Yudhishtira loses all his assets and family, including his wife even after repeated efforts to stop the game. The way he loses it all is one aspect, just as the fact that there was also some amount of trickery in the game, but that is another subject. For the present, we will stick to the game of dice.

The game of dice, or chaupar or paasa, as it were better known was similar to a board game with dice. Except that these dice were not cubical as they are in  the modern times. These were rectangular, six sided dice with two sides being the smaller sides with no numbers. That left four longer sides which carried numbers 1 to 4. Dice were made of different objects, like terracotta, Vibhitaka nuts (the fruits of the Vibhitaka tree, which were sometimes the size of a hazelnut), ivory, bones, wood and even metals. The method of the game varied from location to location, but the basic motive generally remained gambling, besides recreation. This we see as the common theme in all the myths associated with the game.

The first myth is associated with Lord Shiva and Parvati. According to the Puranas, Lord Shiva and Parvati used to play the game of dice regularly. Once the game got so interesting that they started betting during the game. Parvati pledged her jewels, Shiva pledged his trident, and Shiva lost.  To get his trident back, Shiva pledged his serpent, which too he lost and this way, Shiva was left with just his begging bowl. Humiliated, Shiva left for the forest. Lord Vishnu intervened and asked him play again and win back all that he had lost. Shiva went on to play again, and this time he won everything back. Parvati smelt a rat and called Shiva a cheat and this led to an argument, till Lord Vishnu came and revealed that the dice moved as per his commands and that is how Shiva had won. He also went on to say that a game of dice was as unpredictable as life and was always beyond control, sounding the players to be careful before wagering during the game. The story moves on, but we will discuss the rest of the story some other time as the rest does not have anything to do with a game of dice.

The next story is associated with Lord Krishna and Rukmini. According to this tale, the King of Vidarbha had promised her daughter’s hand to Shishupala. His daughter, Rukmini was in love with Lord Krishna and both run away (Krishna was supposed to have ‘kidnapped’ Rukmini). Rukmin, the brother of Rukmini felt insulted and vowed never to return to his region till he had not avenged the insult by killing Krishna. A battle followed, but Rukmin lost, and was granted a lease of life by Krishna. However, Rukmin never returned to his region to honour his vow. Krishna and Rukmini get married in Dwarka. As the story moves on and during one such family wedding, all the relatives instigate Rukmin to invite Balarama, Krishna’s elder brother to a game of dice as he had a weakness for gambling. During the game, Rukmin and his group win by cheating which infuriates Balarama and he ends up killing Rukmin for cheating. The game of dice was organized at a grand scale and the trickery was acknowledged by an aakashvani (voice from the skies).

There are quite a few stories in our mythology which gives importance to the game of dice. At the core of the game, is gambling and at times cheating. This very clearly shows that the game was associated with a lot of merry-making, drinking and wagering just about anything, land, kingdoms, humans and even wives! Though this was played in full public view, there were many instances of misdemeanor and breaking of rules for an ulterior motive. But as Lord Vishnu said in the myth of Shiva and Parvati, a game of dice is an unpredictable and an uncontrollable game. Players should be careful, and as any vice, know when to say no and must have the ability to withdraw.