When Two Egos Collide

"I know how we can steal his kingdom," said Shakuni.

"How's that?" asked Duryodhana.

"I will challenge Yudhishthira to a gambling match. I know Yudhishthira thinks he is better at gambling than he really is," said Shakuni. "Not to mention, he does not have any self control. Once he loses a few rounds he won't be able to stop himself from gambling more."

Duryodhana and Shakuni sent a messenger to invite Yudhishthira to a gambling match. With pride, Yudhishthira accepted the request. He then invited all the Pandava brethren to watch their gambling match. Shakuni and Yudhishthira agreed to have the match in Duryodhana's palace.

On the day of the gambling match, Yudhishthira, his wife Draupadi, and all of the Pandava brethren arrived at the palace in the heat of the day. The towering granite and limestone architecture seemed commonplace to them. They too were incredibly wealthy, even more wealthy than king Duryodhana. King Yudhishthira was blinded by his pride. The pillars on the front of the palace soared into the air and glistened in the sunlight. There was even a spring-fed water fountain in the midst of the courtyard. It flowed down layers of beautiful granite into a pool at the base. Yudhishthira and those with him stopped at the fountain to get a drink of water. "Greetings, friends!" shouted Shakuni as he sauntered out of the palace with a friendly look on his face. "Please, friends, come in! We will have a marvelous party. Duryodhana will spare no expense. Only the finest wine and the best food for his guests."

The Pandavas made their way into the palace where they would have their gambling match. They walked past shining gold statues and glorious silver door handles which adorned every door. It seemed as if the palace had no end. Eventually, they found the room where they would have their gambling match.

Yudhishthira and Shakuni sat down at a lavish table with a velvet table cloth and fresh fruit sitting in the middle of the table. They removed the fruit from the table and began to play their game of dice. As it turned out, Shakuni had been kind to the Pandavas because he knew something they didn't know. He had loaded dice. The game was rigged from the beginning. Shakuni happily let Yudhishthira roll first because he knew he would win in the end.

After hours of betting, and losing, Yudhishthira was embarrassed. He had gambled away everything he owned. He gambled away his kingdom and all of his possessions. He had even gambled away the freedom of the Pandava brethren. The only thing left he was able to bet on was his own freedom the freedom of his wife, Draupadi. Just before he threw the dice, his wife asked to speak with him privately. She took him in another room and said, "Isn't it obvious? Shakuni is playing with loaded dice! He is cheating."

Yudhishthira came back to the table and said, "Shakuni, since you have beaten me all day, how about we play with different dice? You're obviously a better player than I. Surely you can win with different dice." Shakuni happily agreed to Yudhishthira's request.

After finding different dice from one of the Pandava brethren, Yudhishthira told Shakuni that he would only play one more turn on one condition. If Yudhishthira won the next turn, he would win back his entire kingdom and all that he had gambled the whole day. Shakuni, filled with pride, agreed. He thought there was no way Yudhishthira would win. After all, Shakuni had won all day. Yudhishthira rolled the dice and won. All the brethren shouted with joy. Yudhishthira had won their freedom back.

Author's Note:

In the original story, it is believed that Shakuni is playing with loaded dice but Yudhishthira never finds out. It is debated even to this day whether Shakuni actually played with loaded dice. In the end, Yudhishthira gambles away everyone's freedom. Including the freedom of his wife, Draupadi. Which was particularly egregious because Draupadi was not watching the game in the original story. Also, in the original story, there was some question as to whether he could gamble away his wife's freedom when he had already lost his freedom. Ultimately, she is forced to be a slave and king Duryodhana immediately orders her to sweep the floors.

I wanted to change the story only slightly because I thought it was an interesting story to begin with. Can you imagine gambling everything away, even your freedom? The concept to me seems unbelievable but it used to be possible.

The most unbelievable part about the original story is that Yudhishthira never notices that the dice are loaded. One would think that Yudhishthira would catch on to the fact that the dice were landing on the same number over and over again.

Lastly, after seeing that the dice land on the same number over and over again, why did Yudhishthira not bet on the numbers it was landing on? If they both bet on the same numbers one would think that neither of them would lose to each other.