Despite being virtuous, why did Yudhishthira gamble?
Hare Krishna Question Why did Yudhishthira despite being such a virtuous king gamble? Answer The Mahabharata doesn't present utopian characters it presents characters in their human features So Yudhishthira Maharaj he is virtuous in terms of honoring his word he is virtuous in terms of following Dharma and one aspect of a Kshatriya code of conduct is when Kshatriyas are challenged to anything they are not allowed to refuse So now here after Maharaj Yudhishthira had been coronated as the emperor through Rajasuya Yajna then after that he was told at that time by Vyasadev that soon there will be a war fought soon there will be great Kalaha great conflict and there will be a war fought for the sake of for for establishing you as the king So now already Yudhishthira had just been established as the king so Vyasadev's prophecy was quite peculiar and alarming so at that time Yudhishthira took a vow that now war is caused by conflict and conflict is caused when there is when there is difference of opinion and there is disobedience or disagreement coming from that difference of opinion so he said that he would he would always obey his elders now when Vyasadev spoke about the conflict which would come up the most probable cause of conflict was between the Kauravas and the Pandavas the Kauravas had themselves earlier tried in various ways to do away with the Pandavas so Yudhishthira decided that he would obey his elders and by that obedience to elders he hoped that he could avoid conflicts and he had he expected that his elders would would act in just ways if he acted for his own interests then it would appear as if he was acting he was promoting himself but if he obeyed his elders and his elders protected his interests then they then the conflict would be minimized now soon after this after Yudhishthira had taken the he would obey his elders then Duryodhana went back burning with envy seeing the prosperity of Yudhishthira and Duryodhana and Shakuni suggested the idea of gambling to seize away the wealth of the Pandavas and both of them emotionally manipulated Dhritharashtra who then sent Vidura to invite Yudhishthira for a gambling match so now when Yudhishthira came for the when Yudhishthira got the invitation his first question was no gambling causes conflict if we gamble we will fight he said he did not at all want to go for the gambling match but because Dhritharashtra had wanted that and Dhritharashtra was like a father figure for him now he was his uncle and in the absence of his father Dhritharashtra was like his father so he did not he normally would not have wanted to disobey his uncle who was like his father and in this particular situation because he had taken a vow he had he also further was obliged to obey his to obey Dhritharashtra's command and go with Vidura and when they entered into the gambling assembly at that time the first thing that Yudhishthira asked you know oh Duryodhana why do you want to steal away the wealth that I have acquired for the service of the Brahmanas so Yudhishthira thought this wealth as not meant for himself but for serving the Brahmanas and through the service of the Brahmanas for serving the human society at large because the Brahmanas are meant to work for the well being of the broader society so he saw himself as a trustee of the wealth and the wealth is meant for his subjects so Dhritharashtra remained silent and Duryodhana said if you are afraid then we will not play so now Duryodhana very cunningly avoided Yudhishthira's objection and turned it into a slur on Yudhishthira's Kshatriya virility on his courage because it became a challenge at that time Yudhishthira could not refuse so Yudhishthira because he had no desire to gamble at that particular time Yudhishthira did have some he had already obliged himself to follow the elders and Dhritharashtra was his father and further he was challenged at a time when he could not refuse and that's why against his will he was constrained to gamble Thank you.