Chapter 12 - Sports, Games and Entertainments in the Mahabharata

The occasions for social entertainment celebrations, sports and games were many. 1. Political Events The entry of a king into the city brought all the citizens into the street, particularly the 'rajamarga', the centre street which wore a festive look, with multicoloured banners and garlands of white flowers flutting in the wind. The roads were washed clean and sprinkled with scented water, while the air was full of the aromatic smell emanting from powdered r

= 418 2. resins and scented flowers. Huge water-filled pitchers (kumbhas), new and strong, decorated city gates, which were lined with young (kanyas) dressed in their best to welcome the king (I.168.13-21). Welcomming important royal guests into the city sparked off similar celebrations. When the Yadavas arrived in Indraprastha for the wedding of Subhadra and Arjuna, the entire population of the city turned out to greet them, along gaily festooned streets, sprinkled with sandal-water and full of burning aloe scent (1.213.30-33). When Krsna arrived in Hastinapura as the mediator for peace, he was afforded a grand welcome. The Kauravas mounted their chariots and proceeded out of the city, accompanied by young maidens (kanyas) and courtezans following on foot, to meet Krsna half-way and to bring him back in a procession through gaily decorated citystreets (V.84.14-18). 3. Victory celebrations and victory processions too, were participated in by the entire population. When Prince Uttara of the Matsyas won a victory over the veteran Kauravas, aided by Arjuna disguised as Brhannada, lavish celebrations were ordered by King Virata. Messengers were dispatched all over the city to ask young boys (kumaras) and important Ksatriyas, accompanied by bards and singers, musicians and courtezans, to proceed to the battlefield to meet the victorious prince and bring

419 him back in a tumultous procession. Elephants loaded with drums and bells were ordered to be taken around the city to proclaim the victory from every house-top. Important city-roads were festooned with banners and the gods were worshipped with loads of flowers. The entire city wore a festive look and all the citizens, men as well as women, came out gaily adorned, to welcome the prince at every step (IV.63.23-28). Religious Events 1. Sacrificial sessions like those of the Rajasuya and Asvamedha, which lasted for a week or more, witnessed much feasting and drinking by the assembled Ksatriya princes and their Brahmin preists. The invitees and guests were also entertained, in the interval of the session, by story-tellers (kathakas), dancers (nartakas) and performers (natas) (II.30.47-51; XIV.86.12-21, 87. 3-12). 2. Sraddha rites performed after the end of the war for the dead princes of both the sides, were marked by 3. similar celebrations. Utsavas: While lavish sacrificial sessions were the prerogative of the aristocratic Ksatriyas and their Brahmin preists, for the common man there were many local utsavas, akin to the modern yatras, held in honour of some or the other deity. The city of

Varanavata played host, every year, to an utsava of god Pasupati or Siva, while a grand festival of God Brahma was held in the Matsya country, every fourth month of the year. The confederacy of the AndhakaVrsnis held their annual utsava on Mt. Raivataka in Saurashtra, with great fanfare. All the citizens participated in these festivals, marked by lots of food and drink, music and dancing, wrestling bouts and other sports. These utsavas were also known as Samajas (I.131.3, 8-9, 211.1-9; IV.12.12-25). Socio-Religious Events 1. Three important royal weddings are described in the of Draupadi and the Pandavas (I.175, 176), of 2. Mahabharata Subhadra and Arjuna (1.213.31-55), and of Uttara and Abhimanyu (IV.67). The congregation of princes and 420 Brahmins, participants and onlookers, was entertained each time with lavish feasting and drinking, music and dancing, dramatic performances and wrestling bouts. The birth of a prince e.g. Pariksit, too, brought professional entertainers, story-tellers, acrobats, wrestlers, flocking into the city to display their skills and earn handsome rewards. Streets were decorated, houses were adorned, gods worshipped in the temples and there was a general merry-making throughout the night (XIV.69.13-20).

3. 421 The inaguration of a newly constructed building e.g. the Mayasabha at Indraprastha, was marked with the propitiation of gods and Brahmins, feasting and drinking, music and sports, and these celebrations went on for a full 7 days (II.4.1-6). Social Events 1. Pleasure outings: The Ksatriya princes were very fond of taking a large entourage of men and women to scenic river banks, shady forest tracts and picturesque mountains for a day of open air outing. Food and drink was carried along in huge quantities, actors and performers accompanied the entourage and there was music and dancing all around, in which women participated freely (I.204.4-8, 210.8-11, 214.14-29; XIV.58.2-3; XVI.4.14). 2. Often men and women got down into the waters to cool-off the summer heat and enjoyed a day of swimming and water-sport (1.214.21). Special tent-like dwellings were erected along the banks of the Ganga and loaded with food when the Pandava and Kaurava princes decided to go swimming (I.119.29-33). Ghosayatra too was an open-air outing, but with a difference, combining work with pleasure. A trip (Yatra), into the cowherd villages (ghosas) bordering the forest, on the outskirts of the kingdom, was undertaken by the Kaurava princes, to check upon their cattle population and to brand the young ones produced. The work over,

= 422 3. 1. 2. 3. they feasted and drank, made merry with the cowherd belles, who entertained them with music and singing, and finally ended up by hunting rabidly in the forest around (III. 229.4-12). A display of weapons was held at Hastinapura after the Kaurava and the Pandava princes had completed their training under Drona. One by one, the young princes entered the specially constructed arena, in their chariots, and displayed their skill in weilding various weapons. The entire royal household and all the citizens, men and women, were seated to packed capacity on the raised wooden seats (mancas) erected all around the arena and applauded at every new feat (1.124-125), while musical intruments blared forth all around. The above account reveals that the main past-times indulged in during the time of the Mahabharata were: Feasting and drinking: This may sound a bit crude, but there is no doubt that sumptuous feasts and heavy drinking were the primary modes of social contact. This aspect of the life of the Mahabharata Indians has been dealt with in the section dealing with 'Food-habits'. Music and dancing accompanied feasting and drinking on almost every occasion, be it religious or secular. A much detailed account is given in the section dealing with musical instruments. Drama and allied Stages Arts: Natas, actors or performers

= 423 of some sort, often figure with the musicians, singers and dancers. So also sometimes the Kathakas and Granthikas, the story-tellers (XIV.69.7). 4. Magic shows : The Santiparva includes Mayavinas, 5. 6. 7. 8. magicians or jugglers, in the group of professional entertainers (XII.69.58). Wrestling was a favorite sport and professional wrestlers, known as Jhallas, Mallas and Niyodhakas (XIV.69.7) were often patronised by kings. During the festival of Brahma in the Matsya capital, Bhima backed by king Virata, had to wrestle with many famous wrestlers who had flocked to the city to participate in the utsava (IV.12.12-25). The festival also witnessed the cruel spectacle of Bhima made to wrestle, single-handed, with ferocious wild beasts, such as lions, tigers and elephants, watched with sadistic delight even by the women of the Matsya court (IV.12.27-28). u Swimming was another favorite sport, never indulged in competitively, but always as a recreation by men and women alike (1.33.26, 73.5, 119.29-33, 214.14-29). u Hunting was yet another favorite sport, nay an obsession,

= 424 a passion with the princes! They generally hunted in a party (e.g. the ghosayatra) (1.63), but often a king would roam the wild forests alone, tired and thirsty, in pursuit of a deer (1.73.14, 76.4, 92.24). Hunting game like deer, was also a necessity, as for example, when the Pandavas were staying in the forest. This is not to say that the ancients were unawares of the cruel side of the sport. Hunting (mrgaya) is condemned along with drinking and dicing as an evil vice (XII.138.26) and two tragic events in the Epic are connected with this cruel sport. King Pariksit had to die of snake-bite, because he happened to insult a powerful sage, by throwing the slough of a dead serpent on his body, when tired and thirsty, in hot pursuit of a deer, he was unable to extract any information about the fleeing animal from the meditating sage (1.36.8-26, 37.1-9). Similarly king Pandu, an avid hunter, was cursed in the prime of youth, to a life of celibacy and impotency, and finally a wretched death, because one day, he happened to take aim, rather deliberately, at a pair of copulating deer (1.90.64-67). These touching stories bring out the cruelty of senseless killing involved in sport-hunting. 9. Gambling or dice was another Ksatriya passion. The Mahabharata describes in detail a very famous gambling session which gave an unexpected twist to the events and brought Th. 5926

425 about the great Mahabharata war (II.53-67). If Yudhisthira had not gambled away all his wealth and possessions which had built up the glory of Indraprastha, in a fit of reckless gambling the Mahabharata war would probably have never taken place. And he did it not once, but twice, despite having been given a new lease of life by old Dhrtarastra, after the first defeat. Thus even before the Pandavas could reach Indraprastha, a second invitation to a game of dice followed and the excuse which Yudhisthira gave for his almost eager acceptance of it was that it would be unmannly for a noble-born Ksatriya, to refuse the challenge (II.67. 17). That victory at dice was almost as honourable as in a battle is evident from the choice offered by Nala to his opponent Puskara, either a game of dice or a military encounter ! Finally it was the game of dice that settled the old scores between the two men and won for Nala his lost kingdom (III.77). The absolute mad frenzy with which these men played is evident from the wages offered by Yudhisthira anything from chariots, horses, gold, jewels, servants, slaves, to his own brothers and to climax it all, even his wife! Both Yudhisthira and Nala, rich and powerful kings were turned paupers overnight and had to walk away into the forests. The Sabhaparva devotes quite a few adhyayas to describe the gambling bout between Yudhisthira on one side and Sakuni on the other, playing on behalf

= 426 of the Kauravas. Yet somehow the rules and regulations, the procedure and the intricacies of the game are not very clear. All one can gather is that most Ksatriya princes were well conversant with the game, but some like Sakuni were experts, who knew the tricks of the game too well ever to loose. These professional and addicted gamblers were known as Kitavas, and considering that the word is also used as a synonym for a cheat, a trickster, a crooked man, it is obvious that these men were not much favoured as social contacts. In the didactic portions of the Santi, they are dubbed as dangerous to the safety of a nation (XII.89.13). Yet many a king maintained a companion-cum-dice-player with whom he played almost continuously in the assembly hall. Thus Yudhisthira disguised as a Brahmin Kanka was readily accepted into service by king Virata (IV. 6.10-16) as a dice-playing companion and spent most of his time with him. The Virataparva is the only book in the Mahabharata which says something about the actual dice that were used in the game. They were made of different materials like gold, beryl, ivory, the berries of the Vibhitaka (Terminalia bellerica) tree and the Jyotirasa gem. Some were black in colour with the numbers indicated in red dots (IV.1.21). Gold and beryl dice seem to have been particular favorites (IV.6.1).

11. = 427 For women and children there were simpler games and pastimes: (i) riding a swing (dola) (III.59.23); (ii) (iii) playing with a ball (kanduka) (III.111.15%; V.88.62); playing with dolls of wood (darumayi yosha) and cloth (pancalika) which were controlled by strings (III.31.22; IV.35.23; V.32.12, 49.1); (iv) playing with toys (kridanakas) (III.216.23, 230.20), made of wood, terra-cotta and stuffed leather, mostly small figurines of animals such as the elephant, horse and deer (III.278.13; XII.37.39); (v) playing with figurines of birds, probably of terra-cotta and attached with strings and wheels for mobility and manipulation. (III.31.24; VII.85.16, 86.24; XII.56.59). Most of these references are figurative, and the birds are understood as toys due to their being associated with children. However, there is apossibility that they may be live birds, for in one place (VIII.5.54) the Epic describes the fate of the blind Dhrtarastra as that of a bird whose wings have been trimmed by playful children. 11 H

= 428 The general picture in the Epic of fun and frolic, various kinds of shows and performances, sports and games, tallies remarkably well with that which appears in the Jataka texts. same atmosphere. Both seem to be pervaded by very much the The Jatakas describe pompous royal processions, on occasions like a royal wedding or a consecration, when the king rode in procession through festooned city-streets on a gaily-bedecked elephant or a chariot. Previous proclamation of the event by musicians brought the population into the streets. Pavillions were erected before the houses and there was feasting and drinking throughout the day (Mehta 1939:96, 103, 106). A more lifelike picture of a royal procession is to be seen on the stones of Sanchi and Barhut when king Prasenjit rides through Sravasti or Ajatsatru through Pataliputra or when one of them goes The king visiting a stupa attended by a huge retinue. mostly rides a chariot flanked by an umbrella and a From behind came the chowrie-bearer. In front walk men with flags and banners and a large entourage of musicians playing on drums, trumpets, flutes, pipes and cymbals. ministers and generals on horseback, encircled by armed soldiers. There were women too in the procession, carrying flowers and other offerings or else participating in the music and dancing, while the citizens crowded together in the alcoves, windows and balconies to get a glimpse of

= 429 the king and the procession (Marshall and Foucher 1940: Vol. II. Pl XI, XXXIV, XXXV). The descriptions in the Epic immeditely recall these scenes to mind and it is quite likely that chronologically too they belong to the same period, the 1 st-2 nd centuries B.C. Drummers The utsavas or samajas of the Epic too appear have been a regular feature of the social life in the Mahajanapada period. They are much more interesting than any other festival gathering of people in ancient India since they represented a much wider cross-section of the population. They were known as samaja or samavaya to the Sutras and as samajjya to Panini. However it is the Jatakas which give a vivid and colourful picture of the festivities therein. The utsaves were held on full-moon days or at the change of planets and seasons. proclaimed the festival days in advance, and people stopped work and came out in new clothes, garlands and perfumes, and made great din and noise with music and dance. There were special drinking festivals when people ate dainties and drank liquor in taverns and specially erected drinking booths as a time-honoured tradition. The samajjas too were held frequently where men, women and children flocked to see the various shows and performances, dancing and music, ballad-recitation and story-telling, pantomime and dramas, acrobatics and magic shows, combats of animals,

= 430 feats of archery, bouts with quarter-staff and other weapons, and wrestling and boxing, in specially constructed arenas, often within the palace courtyards, with seats arranged in circles and tiers (Mehta 1939:201). However, these festive samaja gatherings of the laity were often looked upon with suspicion and dissaproval by certain sections of the society. Their loud gaity, their emphasis on feasting and drinking, animal slaughter and liquor, the free comraderie with professional artists whose morals were always suspect, and the enactment of cruel sports like animal combats were unacceptable to many. No wonder then that the preistly authors of the Sutra texts put restrictions on a young graduate's participation in these samajas (Ram Gopal 1959:171). But a monk-king like Asoka went even a step further and put a ban on the samajas dubbing them as evil (first Girnar Rock Edict) (Hultzsch 1925:2). All these samaja gatherings were purely secular or at best socio-religious, and religion played a very insignificant role in them. Therefore, whether they occur in a Brahmanic Epic like the Mahabharata or in Buddhist works like the Jatakas, the pattern of festivities is the same. It is the same people comming together irrespective of their religious beliefs. According to the Mahabharata the occasions for these gatherings were to honour some or the other diety, but in the ensuing festivities the gods seem to be forgotten. The very same phenomenon can be witnessed even today in the form of 'yatras' and 'urus' held in honour of some or the

431 other god or goddess. Actually what happens is that people of all castes and creeds flock to them, make marry and come back. The gods are often a pretext for festive marry-making. Bullock cart-races, ram and cock-fights and wrestling bouts are still a common feature of many a village fairs. The Mahabharata ofcource alludes to purely religious S celebrations too, like the yajnas and the sraddha, but even here the post-ceremonial merry-making follows very much the same pattern as in the utsavas and samajas. The The above account will also reveal that the main pastimes in both, the Epic and the Jatakas, were the same e.g. feasting and drinking, music, dance and drama, magic shows and acrobatics, wrestling and combat of animals. frequent outdoor pleasure outings and garden-parties, swimming and water sports in rivers or artificially constructed tanks were the other recreations in common. Two other favorite pastimes of the Epic, hunting and dicing too occur very prominently in the Jatakas. Kings and princes their courtiers, ministers and generals, never seem to tire of roaming the forests in search of wild game, particularly the deer. Sport hunting as noted earlier was not a mere past-time with these men, but a great passion. The rules of dice which seem to escape the reader when going through the famous dicing session between Yudhisthira and Sakuni in the Mahabharata, are found in details in Panini's work and the commentaries thereupon. There were in all five pieces or dice, generally cubical in shape and known as aksa. Each had a name e.g. aksaraja, krta, treta,

432 dvapara and kali. When all the five dice fell with the faces either upwards or downwards it was considered the winning throw, known technically as krta. Any other throw was the loosing throw, known as kali, where the win could be missed by a single aksa or by two, three or four or all five aksas. So long as a player was taking the krta throw he could go on repeating his throws but no sooner was it the kali throw then the turn went to the other player. Thus Sakuni once he began playing decitfully continued to throw the dice till the end of the game, not giving Yudhisthira a single chance to play (Agrawala 1963:163-165). The Mahabharata evidence shows that a game of dice was always played in a sabha-hall in the presence of witnesses. This is corroborated by the Vedic literature as well as the Jatakas and Kautilya. Yet there was deciet and foul-play by a professional and addicted gambler like Sakuni and no one could prevent it. Kautilya takes it for granted that these professional gamblers known as kitavas (even to the Mahabharata) will play a foul game. He looks upon them as potential spies and theives and therefore recommends a total centralization of all gambling under the state authority and imposes a fine if played elsewhere (Shamashastry 1956:222). As noted earlier the Mahabharata too considers the kitavas as harmful to the safety of the nation. The only place in this entire discussion where archeology can be of any help is in tracing the history of a

433 actual pieces of dice of various shapes and various makes. The Mahabharata has alluded to dice made of i) Vibhitaka (Terminalia bellerica) berries, ii) ivory, iii) gold, iv) beryl, and v) the jyotirasa gem, a whereas archeology has so far reported dice and gamesmen of i) terra-cotta, ii) bone, and iii) ivory. Some kind of a dicing game with either cubical and conical dice or gamesmen was in vogue throughout the centuries, right from the days of the Indus Civilization down to 1000 A.D. and even later. Some of the prominent sites reporting such finds are given below: Harrapan Culture Mohenjo-daro, 2500-1700 B.C., baked clay (Marshall 1973:551-52) Rangpur II A, 2000-1500 B.C., game smen with shell inlay (Al, 18-19, 1962-63:149) Alamgirpur I, Cubical dice (IAR 1958-59:52) Lothal, terra-cotta gamesmen with ivory inlay (IAR 1959-60:18)

Chalcolithic Ahr Ib, 1750-1500 B.C., PGW Culture terra-cotta dice (Sankalia et al 1969:181) Atranjikhera II, 1500-1200 B.C., gamesmen III, 1200- 600 B.C., bone dice, bone gamesmen (IAR 1962-63:45) Alamgirpur II, bone dice (IAR 1958-59:54) Jajmu ivory dice (IAR 1957-58:49) Hastinapur II, 1100- 800 B.C., bone game smen NBP Culture (AI, 10-11, 1954-55;13) 434 Ujjain II, 500- 200 B.C., ivory dice terra-cotta gamesmen (IAR 1956-57:27) Hastinapur III Nagara I, (IZR 1957-58:36) 500- 200 B.C., tc dice (AI, 10-11 1954-55:89) 500 B.C., ivory dice (Mehta 1968:87)

Early Historical : Noh, Sunga-Kushana-Satavahana 200 B.C. 300 A.D. dice Chandraketugarh III, Sunga (IAR 1965-66; 38) bone dice IV, Kushana, bone dice (IAR 1959-60:51) a Enn III, Kshatrapa, ivory dice (IAR 1964-65:18) Nevasa V, 50- 200 A.D. ivory dice Sankalia et al 1960:467) Mathura, Kushana, bone di ce Nagara II, Kaushambi, (CAR 1954-55:16) 300 B.C. 00 A.D.,tc dice, bone dice (Mehta 1968:87, 151) 50 A.D., tc gamesmen Vaishali II, (Sharma 1969:96) 150 B.C. 100 A.D., bone dice ivory dice (Dev & Mishra 1961:59) Maski II Magalithic, tc gamesmen 300 B.C. - - 100 A.D. (AI, 13, 1957:14) The above details show that bone and ivory were 435

436 the favorite materials in the manufacture of dice and gamesmen, right from 1200 B.C. Ivory dice however, seem to become more common with the beginning of the NBP culturephase in North India, and particularly so in the early Historical period. As far as the other types of dice mentioned by the Mahabharata are concerned, so far not a single specimen of gold dice has been recovered from any site. However, on account of this alone it need not be dubbed as a poetic fancy for very few artifacts of gold, an expensive metal, are generally left behind. The same holds good in case of a gems like 'jyotirasa' whose exact nature is somewhat ambiguous. The other two types of dice stone and Vibhitaka berries - those of beryl have clear literary references. Beryl first occurs in literature with Panini (400-500 B.C.), whereas the antiquity of the use of Vibhitaka (Terminalia bellerica) nuts as dice goes back to the Rgvedic days.