Intro
Dyuta means dice. Dyuta parva is the story of the gambling match. All chapters in Dyuta are available -
https://crackpot.substack.com/t/dyuta
As It Rhymes
1.
Bhima said,
“O’ Yudhisthira!
We are bound and gagged.
You have been had.
2-3.
When King Kashi gave us money, jewelry and stones he could not have imagined it would all be lost to bones.
Our chariots, wagons, cavalry, arms and armor lost to a toss.
Each Pandava now calls Dhritarashtra boss.
4-6.
But none of your bad deeds made me as angry as when you made Draupadi your stake at the dice game.
To lose the girl on a bet to the Kauravas destroys the Pandavas’ fame.
You fasten Panchali’s binds.
You lose Yajnaseni to wicked minds.
O’ King!
Sahadeva, bring me fire so I can burn Yudhishthira’s arms to a crisp.”
7-8.
Arjuna said,
“Bhimasena, never before have such false words slipped from your lips.
Our religion says that a kshatriya who spills their brother’s blood is to be killed.
9.
The Kshatriya King played the dice game to protect his fame.
Our faith says that we must lay the blame for our loss on divine will.”
10.
Bhimasena said,
“Dhananjaya, if this dharma was not already known by me I would have forced Yudhishthira’s arms into a fiery blaze.”
11.
Vaishampayana said,
Seeing the Pandavas in a miserable daze prompted Dhritarashtra’s son, Vikarna, to speak.
12-14.
Vikarna said,
“We have strayed from Yajnaseni’s question.
We’re sure to go to hell if we ignore her question.
Bhishma, what say you?
Also Dhritarashtra speaker for the Kuru?
Vidura must have a thought.
Bharadvaja’s son and Kripa are silent.
15.
Has every trustful man been bought?
Or blinded by his lustful gaze?
16.
Silence is violence.
The political parties to this assembly should stop deliberating and speak or look forever weak.”
17.
Vaishampayana said,
The Sabha remained stuck in silence.
Like dumbstruck fools the kings of the earth would not speak.
18.
Vikarna rubbed his hands together in frustration.
19.
Vikarna said,
“Kings of the earth show your clout.
Kauravas, put your minds to justice.
20.
Kings have four kinds of vice.
Hunting, wine, women and dice.
21.
For a man addicted to vice Dharma ceases to exist.
Like that his deeds become yoked to sin for as long as he persists.
22-24.
Pandu’s son’s head was spun when Draupadi was won.
Gambling fever intoxicated all in the Sabha today.
Yudhishthira got played.
Draupadi was not won by us, I have no doubt.”
25-26.
The Sabha was filled with a roar.
The crowd gave a standing ovation after hearing Vikarna’s oration.
Hooting jeers fell upon Saubala’s ears.
Radheya’s arms quivered with rage.
27.
Karna said,
“Vikarna and many others here reveal their ire.
Your desire to destroy our gain burns like fire.
28.
Krishnaa asked her question before the assembly hall.
They are silent because the fact that she was won is known by all.
29.
You think like a child.
You look ridiculous.
30.
You are Duryodhana’s brother.
When you explain whether Krishna was won you sound like you were born by another mother.
31.
Explain how Draupadi is not won yet.
When Yudhishthira himself made the bet.
32-33.
Everyone witnessed the famed Draupadi won by Shakuni.
Yet you insist this victory was phony?
34.
If any in the Sabha remain in dark ignorance.
Listen now to my words of stark brilliance.
35.
The Gods ordain a marriage between one woman and one husband.
Draupadi has taken five hands.
36.
Draupadi is a disgraced woman who cannot be debased.
Draupadi’s dragged by her hair in the Sabha wearing one bloody garment is no disgrace.
37-38.
Saubala won Panchali fair and square.
Duhshasana, Vikarna is an idiot.
Disrobe Draupadi and the Pandavas.”
39.
The Pandavas obediently dropped their garb to the ground.
At this the Sabha crowd made a hissing sound.
40.
Duhshasana dragged Draupadi by her garment over the floor.
The Sabha crowd felt intoxicated by gore.
41.
Draupadi prayed to Hari for intervention.
Just then the cowherd Govinda came through the Sabha door.
42.
Draupadi said,
O’ Kesava! The Kauravas are pressing.
Lord help me.
Help! Lord Rama.
Help! Lord of the Vajra.
Help me, Janardana.
43.
Krishna, Krishna the yogi who shines like the sun.
Govinda, I surrender to your protection from drowning in the Kuru ocean.
44.
Remembering Krishna, the lord of three worlds named Hari made ready.
Draupadi covered her mouth, begged and prayed to be saved from the depraved.
45.
Krishna heard Yajnaseni’s pleas.
Duhshasana dragged Draupadi on her knees.
46.
Yajnaseni cried to Krishna, to Vishnu, to Hari, to Nara, any deity to stay.
Draupadi prayed for Dharma to intervene.
47.
Duhshasana meant to strip Draupadi stark naked.
Duhshasana gripped and ripped Draupadi’s garment.
As the dress tore away Krishna spun a replacement.
So on it went each time Duhshasana tore Draupadi’s robe Krishna spun another scarf over Draupadi’s body.
48.
Duhshasana was powered by a surge of angry lust.
The evil-minded fool was hungry like a beast that starves.
49.
The quiet witnesses emitted ghastly awes.
They were all astonished by Krishna’s whirling moves and swirling scarves.
Draupadi was like a rabbit caught in a jackal’s jaws.
50.
Bhima was in flames.
Bhima wrung his hands in wrath.
51.
Bhima said,
“Hear my word now.
I walk the kshatriya’s path.
52-53.
I vow to my grandfathers to punish this idiot’s games.
I will bring him down to the ground from his chariot.
I will rip open his chest and drink his blood.”
54.
Vaishampayana said,
Many were shook by Bhima’s hair-raising wrath.
They spit cruel curses at Dhritarashtra’s brood.
55-56.
The intoxicated Sabha watched the struggle between Draupadi, Duhshasana and Krishna unfold.
A mess of torn dress piled up.
Duhshasana grew weary.
Hair-raising boos of condemnation rained down on Dhritarashtra’s son as he gave up.
57-58.
Then the people in Sabha condemned Dhritarashtra’s son for ignoring Draupadi’s query.
Vidura walked into the riled crowd with arms up.
Vidura asked for quiet to speak.
59.
Vidura said,
“Draupadi’s question to the Sabha deserves an answer.
To ignore a question in Sabha makes Dharma weak.
60.
A man comes to Sabha in the blazing fire of conflict.
He expects speakers of Dharma to quench his moral conflict with the cool water of wisdom upon which to reflect.
61.
Dharma’s questions reveal moral quality.
We should answer Draupadi’s question without desire and angry insanity.
62.
Vikarna spoke to the best of his intelligence like a man.
You all should take a stand.
63-64.
Do not speak false words to gain control.
Falsehood stains a soul.”
88.
Vidura said,
“Every person in Sabha must be heard.
They should all give their word today.”
89.
Vaishampayana said,
Vidura’s words of truth were met with silence.
Karna said to Duhshasana,
“Take the servant maid (Krishnaa) away.”
90.
Draupadi was trembling, meditating and mumbling in prayer.
Duhshasana dragged Draupadi kicking and screaming toward the Kuru lair.
Notes
[2] Bones is slang for dice.
Kings like Kashi give wealth of riches as suzerainty to the Pandavas. The story of the Pandavas' rise as an empire by conquest of other kings is told in Digvijaya Parva.
https://crackpot.substack.com/t/digvijaya
[4] Yajnaseni and Panchali are alternate names for Draupadi.
[6] Sahadeva keeps the Pandavas sacred fire burning.
[7] kshatriya means warrior.
[10] Dhananjaya is a name for Arjuna. Dhananjaya means winner of riches.
[12] Draupadi’s question, asked in a prior chapter, is whether Yudhishthira lost himself before he lost her in dice. If so, to Draupadi’s point, once lost the king was a slave and had no rights to stake his wife in a bet. Duryodhana will use this question to torment the Pandavas with a Catch-22 - for if the Pandavas argue that no Yudhishthira had no right to bet Draupadi as King because he was a slave, to free Draupadi, the Pandavas will be admitting they too have been lost and are now slaves. Draupadi similarly refuses to assert the case directly.
[26] Radheya is Karna.
[28] Krishnaa is Draupadi, the held 'a' is feminine. Krishna is Vasudeva, the 8th incarnation of Vishnu.
Krishna is an epithet that means dark. Both Draupadi and Keshava have dark skin and are known as Krishna.
[37] Saubala is Shakuni. Panchali is Draupadi.
[41] Govinda is Krishna Vasudeva.
[42] Kesava is Krishna Vasudeva. Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu. The wielder of the Vajra is Indra. The vajra is a lightning bolt. Janardana is Krishna.
[44] Hari is Vishnu. Hari also means yellow. Vishnu changes color through each Yuga from white to yellow to red to black.
[46] Nara is Vishnu.
[47] The story of Krishna covering Draupadi with endless bolts of cloth is told in many ways. By some lore, Draupadi once ripped a strip of cloth from her clothes to bandage a cut on Krishna’s finger and Krishna promised to return her favor 100-fold. This he did by winding ever more cloth as Duhshasana tore at her clothes.
By my telling I like to imagine Krishna wearing many colorful scarves that he pulls from his body and uses to cover Draupadi.
In the next chapter Draupadi scorches the assembly with words for watching her be assaulted by Duhshasana. In that speech she says they are looking at what not the wind nor sun have seen before - implying she is exposed even with Krishna’s intervention.
[57] Vidura is Pandu and Dhritarashtra’s brother.
[65-87] Abridged. Vidura relates a tale about Prahlada. Prahlada is a Vishnu devotee demon prince. Prahlada’s father was the demon lord Hiryanyakashipu. Vishnu’s Narasimha (Vishnu-lion) incarnation killed Hiryankashipu. Hiranyakashipu’s killing was the end of the Kreta (first) Yuga into Treta. Ravana was the demon lord that ruled over the Treta Yuga. Rama killed Ravana, turning over to the third Dvapara Yuga - the yuga that in which the Mahabharata in which take place. The Dvapara Yuga turns on the death of Krishna, a few years after the war. The last age is the Kali Yuga, our present cycle. Once this age ends then another age of Manu will begin and the Yugic will cycle back to the first age - the Krta Yuga.
[88] This graphic sexual assault in the Sabha masquerading as a question of Dharma points towards the dilemmas that portend the end of the yuga.
[89] Duhshasana and Duryodhana are brothers. King Dhritarashtra and Gandhari have 100 sons and 1 daughter.
Translation Collage
Four Word Summary
The Mahabharata is the lunar dynasty. The Ramayana is the solar dynasty. The sun is masculine. The moon is feminine. Like that the Ramayana is masculine. The female characters, Kaiyakee and Sita, respectively, are flat. The chest thumping machoism of Rama, Vali and Hanuman impress most. By contrast the Mahabharata has strong female characters. It is the women that play pivotal roles in the character arcs of the Pandava men from zeroes to heroes. In Echakra Kunti turns the Pandavas toward their duty as warriors and away from Yudhishthira’s idea to run from Baka rather than fight to protect the man that has hosted them. In Svayamvara it is Draupadi that first stands up to the Kauravas, before Bhima and Arjuna follow suit - shedding their guises as priests and becoming warriors. In Dyuta the Pandavas are reduced to Shudra - slaves. They impotently sit by abiding their constraints and squabbling while Draupadi is brutally assaulted by the thuggish Duhshasana. It is Draupadi that asks pointed questions. It will be Draupadi who wins back their freedom from Dhritarashtra - at the cost of 13 years exile and 12 in the forest.