(Image: Dice Game Source: Livemint)
Another story that I immediately loved from my first read-through of the Mahabharata was the dice game, which is what I'll be focusing my notes on today. First off it was a bit unsettling to be in the mind of Duryodhana in this reading. The Dharma edition really does portray him as envious to the max. I still have trouble wrapping my head around why he is just so envious of the Pandavas, especially envious enough to exile them from their homes. The dice game is such a strange method to accomplish this end. Duryodhana's uncle, Sakuni, is a strange creature. Having a master dice player as an antagonist is a unique move. In a world full of immense strength and intense battles, the mighty Pandavas are brought low by a shrewd gambler. I'm sure there could be a positive moral in there somewhere if only the Pandavas were the bad guys and Sakuni was a good guy. Maybe an interesting idea for a story!
The dice story illustrates the shortcomings of Yudhishthira as a leader. It's quite easy to criticize his recklessness. The Dharma version of the story does a good job capturing the guilt and desperation that drives Yudhisthira to slowly bet everything. I've been watching a lot of gambling movies lately (Molly's Game and Mississippi Grind). I may try my hand at a gambling story soon. I think the dice story has a lot of contemporary value.
Comments
Post a Comment