THE MAHABHARATAM: (in 18 Episodes) - PRELUDE to the Bhagavad Geeta : Episode 12 :

Chinmaya Mission :

Chinmaya Mission Durban began the month of April with a celestial celebration and a heartfelt offering to the Divine in the form of Samarpanam 2023! The dazzling night was filled with a bonanza of bhajans that ushered the minds of the attendees into pure bliss. Samarpanam 2023 pulled over 250 devotees to our Ashram on the 1st of April 2023! Melodious bhajans by celebrated artists from India, Anuja Sahai, and Dhananjay Bhatt, accompanied by our very own local instrumentalists of the Swarang Group, truly set everyone grooving to the glories of God!

This year's Samarpanam was even more special as Pujya Swami Abhedananda launched the Crowdfunding Initiative for Chinmaya Mission South Africa's noble endeavor - Nourish to Flourish!

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Wednesday, April 12, 2023. 07:00.

How the Writing Began :

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Episode 12:
The “Gambling Match”

Man is usually caught in any one or more of the following traps:

i) Lust: woman; even a spy can be spied upon by a woman. To train a spy is big 

business in a crooked world of intrigue and selfishness. Even in the Cold War, many spies 

were trapped by setting women on them.

ii) Wine: the property of wine is to ‘open’ up a man’s tongue. Give a man alcohol and 

he will start telling all his secrets.

iii) Gambling: This evil ruins a man utterly. It sucks him into a world of make-belief 

where he thinks he is always going to win the next round. Ultimately, he goes on losing and 

shamelessly gives away all he has. 

Yudhishthira, the Lord of Dharma, was himself given this role in the Mahabharata. 

What could be more ironical! The Lord of Dharma himself succumbing to this weakness? It

teaches a great lesson – these vile habits are no respecters of one’s honour. They get hold of 

anyone and bring them to ruin, to a state of shamelessness.

This is what happened in the episode we are about to read.

Duryodhana had a cunning that could out-fox any fox! He gathered his close allies 

together – Duhsasana, Shakuni and Karna. That was his plotting team. Vidhura had to be 

kept as far away as possible (Vidhura was Dhritarashtra’s brother, the Kauravas’ uncle). 

When the plan was ready, they went to the King for his “thumb-print”. 

“Son, what is it you want?” asked Dhritarashtra. 

Duryodhana explained at length the embarrassment of visiting the Pandavas’ palace 

at Indraprastha. “You see how they tortured me? You see how the ladies laughed and 

mocked at me? How can I bear all these insults? Father, we are going to invite them (the 

Pandavas) for a game of dice, and entertain them in return.”

Nothing else was discussed; everything was well understood. Dhritarashtra gave the 

permission for the game to take place. Somehow Vidhura smelt some mischief and tried to 

stop it, but the King said, “Even kings require a pastime to relax. Don’t see problems where 

there is joy, Vidhura.” Vidhura was ordered to go away and not be present for the game. 

Yudhisthira accepted the invitation. Fate laughed and gave a cruel smile!

As expected, Yudhisthira proved no match for a cunning Shakuni who played with 

loaded dice. Yudhishthira lost game after game. With each game he lost his shame, too. He 

began staking anything he could clutch. All the gains that the Pandavas had made at Indra

prastha were gambled away in the twinkling of an eye. Then came the moment of weakness 

that was to write itself in history for its utter insanity. It deserves an episode all its own.

He was an embodiment of Dharma, yes – but a human embodiment. He fell . . . now 

there was just tragedy after tragedy after tragedy in the lives of the Pandavas.

What could have made Yudhishthira accept the gambling match?

i) An inherent weakness for the game.

ii) The tendency of the Kshatriyas to accept a challenge.

iii) His own decision to respect his father’s wishes.

iv) Fate, moving inexorably towards an inevitable war.

Episode 13:
The De-Robing of Draupadi 
To be continued

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