How did the dyuta sabha plan come about?
It was at dyuta sabha where Yudishtira staked his brothers and his wife and lost the entire Indraprastha. At the end the Pandavas were sent on exile for 13 years. But how did this Dyuta sabha plan come about?
Yudishtira’s Rajasuya was performed grandly. The Kauravas were invited to attend. Duryodhana saw the prosperity of Indraprastha, he saw how no one dared speak up against Yudishtira even when Sishupala was killed. Yudishtira’s power dazed Duryodhana.
Then at the illusion- filled Maya sabha, Duryodhana fell into water. Bheema, the twins and then Arjuna, laughed at him. Now Duryodhana was furious. He was determined to ruin the Pandavas. When he went back to Hastinapura, he could not forget all the riches that he had seen at Indraprastha. He wanted it all to be his, by hook or by crook.
Seeing Duryodhana very quiet and depressed, Shakuni asked him what the problem was. Duryodhana immediately told him what he had seen and how he wished to snatch Indraprastha and all of Yudishtira’s wealth and bring the Pandavas to ruin.
But Shakuni did not support this idea at all. He advised Duryodhana to give up such thoughts because the Pandavas had created all the wealth by their own might, their own hard work. He added that there was no one who could defeat the Pandavas in battle.
Duryodhana was not happy to hear this. He threatened to give up food, water and die if he could not find a way to rob Yudishtira of all his prosperity. He asked Shakuni to give him some idea that would help steal it all away without bringing any harm to the Kauravas. Shakuni came up with the idea of playing a dice game and cheating Yudishitra out of the kingdom without firing a single arrow.
But how would Duryodhana convince his father, the blind king? Dhritarashtra was as keen to see Duryodhana prosper but he was also afraid of what Bhishma and Vidura would say. Duryodhana needed a powerful argument to push Dhritarasthra to agree. Next week, we see how Duryodhana convinced Dhritarasthra to agree to the dyuta game.
