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The Gaming Table by Andrew Steinmetz

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GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS.--A HINDOO LEGEND AND ITS MODERN PARALLEL

CHAPTER II. page 10

Such was the great gambling match at Hastinapur in the heroic age
of India. It appears there can be little doubt of the truth
of the incident, although the verisimilitude would have been more
complete without the perpetual winning of the cheat Sakuni--which
would be calculated to arouse the suspicion of Yudhishthira, and
which could scarcely be indulged in by a professional cheat,
mindful of the suspicion it would excite.

Throughout the narrative, however, there is a truthfulness to
human nature, and a truthfulness to that particular phase of
human nature which is pre-eminently manifested by a high-minded
race in its primitive stage of civilization.

To our modern minds the main interest of the story begins from
the moment that Draupadi was lost; but it must be remembered that
among that ancient people, where women were chiefly prized on
sensual grounds, such stakes were evidently recognized.

The conduct of Draupadi herself on the occasion shows that she
was by no means unfamiliar with the idea: she protested--not on
the ground of sentiment or matrimonial obligation--but solely on
what may be called a technical point of law, namely, `Had
Yudhishthira become a slave before he staked his wife upon the
last game?' For, of course, having ceased to be a freeman,
he had no right to stake her liberty.

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