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The Tradition of
Gambling
CULTURAL CURRY
By Priyali Chauhan
Diwali is a festival of lights and prosperity and symbolizes the
victory of light over darkness. Celebrated joyously all over the
country, the festival of lights is not just illumination and
fireworks. There are many other aspects like the tradition of gambling
associated with it. Amidst all the fun and frolic involved in the
celebration of the Diwali festival, the age old sport of gambling has
its own prominence. Families get together and organize card games
like fl ush and rummy. The stakes are high and the winner is assured
of year long prosperity. It is said that the goddess of wealth smiles
upon the player and ensures her goodwill. Some however play just
for the sake of tradition and do not gamble with money. The traders
and business community is very particular about these traditions
and believe this is the way of starting a new accounting year. The
practice of gambling with high stakes is not appreciated by those
who are more traditional and believe in playing cards as a part of
the tradition. They also believe that gambling for money or betting in
this way during Diwali is bringing disrepute to a traditional practice.
Legend has it that Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati played the game
of dice and she decreed that whosoever gambled on Diwali night
would prosper throughout the ensuing year. In ancient India, dice
games were very popular and Diwali was the time when farmers
could relax and spend time with family and friends by playing
dice games and betting money that they had just acquired from
harvesting their crops. This may have been the actual social origin of
the unusual practice of gambling on Diwali, which was done on the
pretext of the divine sanction of the Goddess. Gambling may have
also come into practice as a pass time on Diwali nights when the
doors of the house are left open to welcome Lakshmi, the Goddess
of wealth. It was important to have night vigil and so the whole family
would stay awake to play the game of dice in order to keep from
falling asleep. In many parts of Gujarat, the entire Hindu month of
Shravan (usually in August-September) is considered auspicious for
gambling.
The game of dice was an integral part of the lives of the people in
ancient India. It was this form of gambling that was the root cause of
the Mahabharata, the famous war between the Pandavas and their
cousins, the Kauravas. The Pandavas were invited by the Kauravas
for a game of dice and the eldest of the Pandavas, Yudhishtir, got so
engrossed in the game that he bet his entire Kingdom and wealth
in the game and lost everything. Desperate to win, Yudhishthira
was so deep that it did not deter him from betting Draupadi, the
beautiful wife of the fi ve brothers. He lost again and Draupadi was
put through unprecedented humiliation before the full assembly.
Shorn of their Kingdom and pride the Pandavas and Draupadi were
forced into a twelve year exile. The Mahabharata was fought to
reinstate the lost honour and Kingdom of the Pandavas.
IN TODAY’S WORLD, INDIA STANDS
NINTH, BY GROSS PROFITS, IN THE LIST
OF THE LEADING GLOBAL BETTING AND
GAMING NATIONS. THE TRADITION OF
GAMBLING DURING DIWALI EPITOMISES
HOW INGRAINED THE ACTIVITY IS IN
INDIAN CULTURE.