This
week the Karma Watchers received a tip off about a
poker game that went way too far. There are going to be karma
consequences of this poker game for several years to come. We
received
this tip just two days ago when there was a commotion in the
street. When
we ran down to see what was going on, one of the people in the crowd
told us
that they were watching the Pandavas leave the city. Apparently,
the
Pandavas were being sent into exile for the next fourteen years.
It
all started a few days back when Yudhistira was invited
to the Kauravas’ palace to play poker. He was very excited and
set out
that very day for the palace, taking his brothers along with him.
When
Yudhistira arrived, he was greeted by Duryodhana, the eldest of the
Kaurava
brothers. Yudhistira was to play against him and a couple other
men in a
game of poker. They started playing just a few dollars at a time,
then
the stakes got higher and higher, until eventually Yudhistira had run
out of
money.
Yudhistira
was very upset and not ready to leave yet.
The reason that Duryodhana had invited Yudhistira to play poker was
because he
knew that Yudhistira would become obsessed with the game and not be
able to
stop playing until he won or until he had lost everything.
Duryodhana
knew that if he could get Yudhistira to keep on gambling, the karmic
consequences were going to be huge.
With
no money left, Yudhistira decided he would start
betting his material possessions such as his brand-new Ferrari and his
two-million-dollar house. His brothers warned him that this game
had gone
too far and that he should stop playing, but he kept on playing.
Once all
of his material possessions were lost he decided that he would bet his
brothers. One at a time he began to bet his brothers. Once
all of
his brothers were lost, he decided that he would bet himself.
Just when
he thought he had nothing left to bet, he remembered
something. He
still had his wife Draupadi left. With nothing left to bet, he
decided to
bet Draupadi. Then, before he knew it, she was lost as
well.
Feeling
bad, the Kauravas decided to give him one last
chance. If Yudhistira won, then he would get everything back and
was free
to go back home, but if Duryodhana won, then Yudhistira and his family
would
have to go into exile for the next fourteen years.
Yudhistira
accepted this bet and played one final
time. The dealer slowly turned the last card over. It
revealed
Yudhistira’s fate. He was to be exiled immediately. He and
his
family went home to grab a few things and then marched into the woods
without
an argument. His family had no choice but to go with
Yudhistira. They recognized the terrible consequences of his
actions, and
accepted them.
That
is what caught our attention in the street that day
when we were tipped off to the Pandavas leaving the city.
Yudhistira
learned a very valuable lesson that day!
Sadly, he was a very competitive person and could not stop until he
won.
Unfortunately, it was Yudhistira’s karma to be exiled since he would
not listen
to anyone when they told him to stop playing and he was willing to
gamble away
his family just to win a game.
Author’s
Note:
I
really wanted to focus of the story to be on
Yudhistira. He is the main character in this story and if it
wasn’t for
him, then the Pandavas would not be exiled. He would not listen
to anyone
when they warned him to stop and unfortunately was the reason his
family was
exiled. In the traditional story they do not play poker.
Instead they
play dice, but I wanted to make the story a little bit more modern and
easier
for people to relate to. Also, in the traditional story
Duryodhana does
not play. He sends his uncle Sakuni to play for him.
Yudhistira’s
brothers don’t warn him to stop, but a friend of the Kauravas warns
Sakuni to
stop because the game had gone too far. The reason I chose to
leave
Sakuni out of this story was because of the fact that I was trying to
focus on
Yudhistira and I didn’t want to add in too many characters. They
did not
have material possessions like Ferraris in the traditional story, but
since I
was trying to make my story more modern, I added that in. I also
added
the part about the crowd on the street because I wanted to get the
point across
that this was a big deal and not just some random family being
exiled. I
decided to add this story about karma because I thought it fit in
perfectly
with the other stories. My other stories have to do with the
consequences
that a person's karma has for that person, or the consequences of
another
person's karma, or consequences from the karma of another incarnation
of that
person. This time we learn about the karma of the entire family
from one
person's actions. I also thought this story was a good one to add
because
people could relate to it a lot more than the other stories.