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.

The Big Fat Indian Democracy

We have been made to believe with a lot of pride, that India and Democracy are synonymous. I would like to make a slight correction. India and ‘a large democracy’ are synonymous and the pride should end just there. There isn’t anything positive with our democracy, even if our politicians and the social commentators would want us to believe otherwise.

We live in a massive democracy which is definitely not a matured one. We can’t dream of the heads of our political parties coming together for a public debate prior to elections on matters that concern the masses. Unthinkable, especially when they haven’t even gone past ‘buying’ the voters with handful of rice, TV-sets and sarees. In our country we can’t even think of a public-wrong-doer (or a scamster) being interrogated by parliamentarians being televised live. This can happen anywhere, but in India. We haven’t even received a single apology for the unending errors that our politicians make – folded hands before the elections do not epitomize humility.

I think as a country we have lots to learn from US & UK, who might be smaller democracies, but are definitely highly matured and much-evolved, besides being quite transparent. Their governments can fall due to ethical issues and people have the humility to apologize and take moral ownership for wrong-doings under their leadership, even if they were not involved. Further, you won’t find them in power after a few years wearing a different cap.  In our country they will deny till it is out of people’s mind and another new scam makes the headlines. Our politicians lack the strength of conviction and their moral fabric is already in shreds.

The once-in-five-years ritual called elections is hardly a weapon for change. An average Indian who is working 24x7 to make two ends meet, is so busy fighting the inflation and other issues created by the politicians, that he is unable to keep track of the numerous scandals, scams and other issues of the last half-decade, for him to vote for change and change for the right. To aggravate the situation, his choice is between bad and worse, so what does he choose? The poor common man then simply gives up and elects who he thinks is just bad and needless to mention the elected lives up to his expectation – just bad!

After the elections, the new people in power start their share of looting and ensure that we keep toiling for our daily dry bread (rather half bread!). Life in India just goes on – from the frying pan to the fire and after the elections from the fire to the frying pan!

Shakuni

Shakuni was considered to be the villain of Mahabharata. He instigated Duryodhan and constantly plotted against the Pandavas. But is this the whole truth? Did he do all this out of devotion to his sister’s clan or was there something else? Was he inherently evil as we know him and have seen in popular depiction, clad in black robes and wearing an evil look and an impish smile?

Shakuni as represented in Kathakali
Dance Form

Shakuni was the brother of Gandhari, the wife of the blind king Dhritarashtra of Hastinapur. Shakuni has also been referred to as the King of Gandhar, a region smaller than Hastinapur. It is said that Shakuni was angry and felt insulted when Bhishmapitamah brought the matrimonial proposal of the blind Dhritarashtra. In those days, refusing the proposal would have been suicidal for the region and they were left with no choice but to accept it. To add fuel to the fire, Gandhari, Shakuni’s sister, embraced darkness for life. Shakuni felt vindictive and decided to avenge the insult to Gandhar and his father, King Subala, by ruining the entire Kuru clan of Bhishmapitamah who was the proud guardian of the kingdom. But this he could not do by waging a war against them as Gandhar Pradesh was too small in comparison to Hastinapur. He decided to live with them and eat into the system and destroy it from within. Just as a rat destroys cloth, for the sake of destroying, not because it wants to eat it, Shakuni became the rat in Hastinapur and kept Duryodhan under his tutelage and kept fanning his ambitions and stoking the fire of jealousy and ambition alive in him, till the entire extended family was brought to a naught. This is the version according to Ved Vyasa or at least a popular explanation of Shakuni’s behavior.

There are some other versions to his evil. According to a version (which does not find space in Vyasa’s version), Gandhari’s stars foretold that she would be a widow as soon as she married, but if married again, her second husband would survive. So her father got her married to a goat and killed it soon after, which made her a ‘widow’ in technical terms. Later, when Dhritarashtra comes to know about this, he waged a battle against the kingdom of Gandhar and took King Subala, along with his 100 sons as prisoners. As prisoners all of them were given just a handful of rice to sustain. The King realized that this way all of them would meet their end soon. He then decided that all would sacrifice their portion for one of them to eat, who should live on to avenge this insult meted out on them. The son selected to carry on living was Shakuni. After his father and all the brothers had died one by one, Shakuni was released on the request of Gandhari and he then came over to Hastinapur and continue his task that his father and brothers had given him.

There is an interesting story on the selection of Shakuni to take the task forward. King Subala of Gandhar wanted an intelligent son to survive to avenge the insult, so to test them, he gave each one a bone and asked them to put a thread through it. None could do it, except Shakuni, who tied a thread to an ant who went through the bone to reach the other end, to eat a grain of rice which was tied to the other end of the bone!  One by one all the brothers died and so did his father and it is said that the dice that Shakuni carried with him was carved out of his father’s thigh bones. The dice constantly reminded him of the insult and his objective entrusted on him by his family.

In all the negative qualities associated with Shakuni, a very important quality of his has been overlooked. Shakuni was a very good judge of human nature and character. He knew well about Dhritarashtra’s lust for monarchy and his inability to hold on to it due to his lack of vision, both literally as well as figuratively. He was aware of his nephew, Duryodhan’s hatred for his cousins and his ambition to become the King and continued to fan the flame of hatred in his heart and mind. He was also aware of Yudhishtira’s weakness for gambling and knew that Yudhishtira would give in to the slightest provocation and that is what he ensured during the dice-game. He was also well aware of Krishna’s love and support for the Pandava’s and also recognized the fact that Krishna was the only match to his guile and intelligence in the Pandava camp, and ensured that all the wrong meted out to the Pandavas occurred in Krishna’s absence. One can see these examples as evil intentions, or as smart strategist who moved towards his personal objective in a slow, but steady pace.

Popular notion sees Shakuni as the villain, but was he really one? Wouldn’t any individual with slightest of self-respect feel insulted if a matrimonial proposal was sent for his daughter/sister from a person who is not only ineligible but also handicapped? Who would not feel insulted if such a proposal was given to them, just because it was not in their power to decline? Was this not exploitation of one’s superiority? Did Bhishmapitamah not know the inadequacies of Dhritarashtra, who though elder of the family was not eligible to be the King? Was the matrimonial alliance not being sought after more for physical and political reasons rather than simple matrimony? With all this and more, what else can a relatively weaker person do, if not act like a termite and eat into the system, to avenge his insult? This is exactly how rebels are created due to acts of insult, injury and oppression. The case of Shakuni was no different. In the light of such acts by the mighty stalwarts and guardians of Hastinapur, was Shakuni really a villain?  

Shakuni was later killed by Sahadev in the battle of Kurukshetra.

The Myth of Baba Dhokal

During one of my recent visits to Ahmedabad, Gujarat, I came across a rain myth. As mentioned earlier during the myths of Rain (See articles dated June, 7, 9 & 10, 2011) there are a number of general and local myths associated with rain. They could be the causes of rain or myths related to the need to rain. Sometimes they are also associated with causes of no-rain. This one is associated with no-rain.

This is a myth which is called the myth of Baba Dhokal. Sultan Ahmed Shah, who established the city of Ahmedabad, needed four Ahmed’s (meaning holy souls) and twelve saints to be a part of the ceremony to establish the city. Baba Dhokal, better known as Hazrat Sheikh Mahmud Chishty, who was a renowned Sufi saint of the times was chosen to preside over the ceremony. The myth is regarding him.

It is said that soon after the establishment of the city, the city did not receive rains. So people went to him and requested to do something to get the rains. On their request, he started chanting 'Baba Dhokal, varsad mokal' (Baba Dhokal, send rain), and according to the myth, the city received rains soon after. People were so pleased with his efforts that they made dhokla’s (a steamed food item, very commonly found in Gujarati cuisine) and distributed amongst the poor and needy. It is said that even today, when people fear a drought-like situation, they throng to his burial and chant 'Baba Dhokal, varsad mokal' and also distribute dhokla’s to all.

This is a small and localized myth associated with a person whose burial can be found in the city of Ahmedabad (in the Madhvpura area). He was no god and no imaginary character but a person who was living till about 600 years ago (the city was established in the year 1411). This is a case in point of the strength and importance of myths in our country and the universality and occasional secularity of the same.

(Why has the name Baba Dhokal been associated with the Sufi saint and its association with dhokla’s is unknown.)

1st Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of this Blog and I am feeling as proud as any father does when his child celebrates her first birthday! On this day I look back with nostalgia and pride. Nostalgia, because it seems like just yesterday when the word Blog was a techno-phrase for me and a touch-me-not subject for me. Pride, because I have said so much and on so many things and so many people have read it. To get statistical, my Blog has got close to 29,500 hits in the last 8 months (I got the Total Pageviews widget working after nearly four months of the launching of the Blog).

On this day, I feel like a celebrity, so let me make the most of my brief flirtation with self-imposed-stardom and true to my role, here’s my Thank-you speech –

y     I would like to say thanks to my wife who first suggested that I should write instead of ‘talk so much’ (that way she would have a choice to read or not!)

y    I would like to thank my friend who suggested that I should Blog, someone might notice my writing and give me an offer to write a book (No I did not fall for that, but I took it up nonetheless)

y     I would like to thank all those correspondents and editors who did not revert back to my suggestions for writing for them (I guess that’s why they are unknown editors and not well-known authors – they don’t know what is good writing!)

y     I want to thank my friend who forwards my articles to all his friends (I think he has the best taste in literature and should be the next editor of Times of India!)

y     I would like to thank all my friends and well-wishers for telling me I write well and should keep writing (but I wonder why they tell me not to write long pieces?!? Oh hell I don’t need to have all the answers; after all ignorance is bliss!)

Here’s saying a big thank you to all who read and commented and also to those who read but did not comment. If the Blog has added to your info-base, then I am happy.

So keep coming back and reading and send in your requests and suggestions.

Thank you all once again!!