After much of my hardwork, I have finally obtained my own
kingdom. I know that Cousin Dury is jealous, but who wouldn’t be?
On a spring day, Dury came up to me and asked to play a dice
game. I knew myself. I knew about my gambling problem. Hence, I never acted
upon it. But Dury was very convincing and said that Uncle Shakini would play
too! Shakini is always a good time. I reluctantly said, “Okay.”
The first dice game, the stakes were fairly low. We were
betting our cows. We each placed 100 cows into the match for a total winning of
300 cows. We were all about tied.
“Bazinga!” I yelled. I had won. Adrenaline running through
my veins, more. I wanted more.
As the games progressed, my luck was running out.
Occasionally I would win a hand, but most of the time it was either Dury or
Shakini winning.
“One more time.” I would say. I needed to win back my
animals and servants.
“One more time.” I would say. I needed to win back my homes.
Before I knew it, wine in hand, I had nothing left to give.
I told the men that the game was over and they won since I
had nothing more to give. But, they said, “I believe you have four brothers and
a wife.” I thought long and hard. It was true that I had 4 brothers. If I had
lost one, I would still have three. One by one, I betted my brothers. It was a
back and forth battle. I knew my misfortune was running out. It was about time
I win… until I lost all my brothers. There was only one person left, Draupadi.
She was someone I adored dearly. I knew that if I went back into the palace
without my brothers, she would be lonely and enraged.
“One more time, all or nothing.” I told the men.
They both agreed to the terms.
The final game was played. Sweat dripping from my forehead,
wine bottles emptied, nothing was going right. Shakini must have had a lucky
day. I had lost everything near and dear to me.
(Dice Game - Image Source)
Author's Note: I wanted to tell this story in the perspective of Yudhishthira. This is also the feeling I have whenever I go gambling, however not to this extent. I wanted to show how Yudhishthira had good intentions to win back what he lost, but because Prince Shakini and Duryodhana was cheating, he was unable to win. I also wanted to show that at the point Yudhhishthira wanted to stop, it was too late. He would not be able to go back to anything. In the original story, Yudhishthira loses everything including his brothers and wife because Prince Shakini cheated and Duryodhana knew about his dice gambling addiction.
Bibliography. "The Indian Story Book: The Five Tall Sons of Pandu" by Richard Wilson, Illustrated by Frank Pape in 1914. Book Source.
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