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Volume I Volume II

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 2

The great gambling match of the Hindoo epic was the result of a
conspiracy to ruin Yudhishthira, a successful warrior, the
representative of a mighty family--the Pandavas, who were
incessantly pursued by the envy of the Kauravas, their rivals.
The fortunes of the Pandavas were at the height of human
prosperity; and at this point the universal conception of an
avenging Nemesis that humbles the proud and casts down the
mighty, finds full expression in the Hindoo epic. The grandeur
of the Pandavas excited the jealousy of Duryodhana, and
revived the old feud between the Kauravas and the former.
Duryodhana plotted with his brother Duhsasana and his uncle
Sakuni, how they might dispossess the Pandavas of their newly-
acquired territory; and at length they determined to invite their
kinsmen to a gambling match, and seek by underhand means to
deprive Yudhishthira of his Raj, or kingdom.[16]

[16] The old Sanskrit words _Raj_, `kingdom,' and Raja,
`king,' are evidently the origin of the Latin _reg-num, reg-o,
rex, regula_, `rule,' &c, reproduced in the words of that ancient
language, and continued in the derivative vernaculars of modern
names--_re, rey, roy, roi, regal, royal, rule_, &c. &c.

It appears from the poem that Yudhishthira was invited to a game
at coupun; and the legend of the great gambling match, which took
place at Hastinapur, is related as follows:

`And it came to pass that Duryodhana was very jealous of the
_Rajasuya_ or triumph that his cousin Yudhishthira had performed,
and he desired in his heart to destroy the Pandavas, and gain
possession of their Raj. Now Sakuni was the brother of Gandhari,
who was the mother of the Kauravas; and he was very skilful in
throwing dice, and in playing with dice that were loaded;
insomuch that whenever he played he always won the game. So
Duryodhana plotted with his uncle, that Yudhishthira should be
invited to a match at gambling, and that Sakuni should challenge
him to a game, and win all his wealth and lands.

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