3

In section LXXII of Mahabharata, there is an excerpt regarding the science of dice.

"Vrihadaswa said, '.......Rituparna said, 'O Vahuka, thou art the only charioteer, there is none other in this world. And, O thou versed in horse lore, it is through thy help that I expect to go to the Vidarbhas. I place myself in thy hands. It behoveth thee not to cause any obstacle. And, O Vahuka, whatever thy wish. I will grant it if taking me to the country of the Vidarbhas to-day, thou makest me see the sun rise.' At this, Vahuka answered him, saying, 'After having counted (the leaves and fruits of the) Vibhitaka, I shall proceed to Vidarbha, do thou agree to my words. Then the king reluctantly told him, 'Count. And on counting the leaves and fruits of a portion of this branch, thou wilt be satisfied of the truth of my assertion.' And thereupon Vahuka speedily alighted from the car, and felled that tree. And struck with amazement upon finding the fruits, after calculation, to be what the king had said, he addressed the king, saying, 'O monarch, this thy power is wonderful. I desire, O prince, to know the art by which thou hast ascertained all this.' And at this king, intent upon proceeding speedily, said unto Vahuka. 'Know that I am proficient at dice besides being versed in numbers. And Vahuka said unto him, 'Impart unto me this knowledge and, O bull among men, take from me my knowledge of horses.' And king Rituparna, having regard to the importance of the act that depended upon Vahuka's good-will, and tempted also by the horse-lore (that his charioteer possessed), said, 'So be it.' As solicited by thee, receive this science of dice from me, and, O Vahuka, let my equine science remain with thee in trust.' And saying this, Rituparna imparted unto Nala the science (he desired). And Nala upon becoming acquainted with the science of dice, Kali came out of his body, incessantly vomiting from his mouth the virulent poison of Karkotaka.

With the help of that science, Rituparna can exactly calculated number of leaves, fruits etc., From Rituparna, Nala also got the science of dice. Vrihadaswa gave it to Yudhisthira.

In this context, I have two doubts:

1) Along with these four people ( Rituparna, Nala, Vrihadaswa, Yudhisthira), are there any other people who know this science of dice in ancient scriptures. If yes, list out them.

2) Is there any text available explaining the science of dice in detail?

hanugm
  • 31,700
  • 11
  • 70
  • 175
  • 2
    This question could be closed off topic! – Agamas Tantras Nov 11 '18 at 04:30
  • 5
    How can it be an off topic? I asked for the names of people told in scriptures who knows the science of dies and asked for the name of text that contains the science of dies in detail, if available. – hanugm Nov 11 '18 at 04:35
  • 2
    How is game of dice a matter of Hinduism religion? There are many topics like Maths, Physics etc., in scriptures but that doesn't necessarily make it off-topic for the site. Use @username to reply me. Otherwise I won't get notified. – Sarvabhouma Nov 11 '18 at 09:27
  • 1
    @Sarvabhouma Question didn't ask about just dice game. In the given excerpt the king can able to count the no.of leaves etc., exactly using his science called science of dice. He teaches that to Nala in less time (probably mantra). Along with some mathematics and some physics, many sciences like jyothishya shastra are specific to Hindu culture only. – hanugm Nov 11 '18 at 10:19
  • 1
    It rounds up to dice game only. It is not a Hinduism topic. I didn't talk about astrology which is on-topic here. "Text explaining science of dice" means books for dice game. He learnt dice but it's not mentioned by mantra. Even if it's mantra, that doesn't make a difference. There are many books available on the internet. This is not a Hinduism question. There are 64 sciences like pottery, cooking, growing parrots, making chariots in Hinduism texts but that doesn't make on-topic here just because they are from a Hindu book. Plus, list questions are discouraged as there is probably no end. – Sarvabhouma Nov 11 '18 at 13:29
  • 1
    @Sarvabhouma it is well known that a lot of the sciences developed by many Hindu rishis are either unavailable or not encouraged nowadays. Since astrology is widely encouraged by Hindus because of the interest to know their future, it cannot become on topic. It became on topic because it was developed by Hindu rishis. All these sciences are developed by rishis or Hindu experts and followed by kshetriyas and others during that times. If it is developed by Hindu experts, then how it be off topic, while astrology is on topic? – hanugm Nov 11 '18 at 13:38
  • @Sarvabhouma let us assume that it finally deals with dice game only. Then what makes it un-recommended to ask it when Hindu texts are talking about them? – hanugm Nov 11 '18 at 13:40
  • Hindu texts talk about many things. Like I said Pottery, weaving, swimming, cooking, making chariots, pleasing women (!), preparation of salts, martial arts, geography etc., so on upto 64 sciences. If all topics are added, site will become like Quora. Saying Hindu texts has a mention is not a good reason. That is where the scope of the site comes into picture. To maintain quality, we avoid some questions even there is a mention e.g Personal advice, scientific speculation. Hence they would be off-topic within the scope. – Sarvabhouma Nov 11 '18 at 13:46
  • 1
    @Sarvabhouma

    If the science (asked for) is told in scriptures and is available in detail, then simple answer will be the name of the text and optionally range of slokas that deals.

    If it(science) was just mentioned and didn't explained in detail anywhere, then simple answer will be Not available.

    Where the opinion based or scientific speculation comes in to play.

    In the question, i asked for reference only, not to explain mantra or to explain the total science behind it.

     – hanugm Nov 11 '18 at 14:11
  • 1
    You missed what I said. I explained what is scope of the site and why we close questions even if there is a mention of them in texts. I didn't say this is POB or scientific speculation. We will close a question if it asks for science even if it is mentioned in some book because there are other sites which deal with that subject. Similarly dice too, there are other sites. If dice is allowed on the basis of mention, cooking is also mentioned, all the ones I mentioned is also mentioned. Will we allow and ask cooking questions, pottery questions, martial arts, geography questions? – Sarvabhouma Nov 11 '18 at 14:17
  • 1
    I strongly believe that allowing those questions will be good if the OP is aware of them in the texts.

    Suppose see these questions : https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/12075/the-speed-of-light-taittirya-brahmana-of-the-yajurveda ,

    https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/12365/what-is-the-shape-of-earth-according-to-hindu-scriptures ,

    https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/9102/are-there-any-references-to-gravity-in-hindu-scriptures?rq=1

    All these comes under physics, if we do not allow, it does not encourage members to think in those apsects.

     – hanugm Nov 11 '18 at 14:29
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Sarvabhouma Nov 11 '18 at 14:59
  • @Sarvabhouma, I agree with hanugm about his last comment. there are many other questions on this site that are not scientific speculation, but are asking for direct science from scriptures. again, as long as there is direct scriptural quotation from accepted texts, the quality of our site won't be harmed. – ram Nov 12 '18 at 01:52
  • @ram I will ask about 64 shastras and 16 arts. Is it okay? Everything is present in Hindu texts which are not suitable for our site. – Sarvabhouma Nov 12 '18 at 18:12
  • @Sarvabhouma, yes, it is ok. there is already a question about it - https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/15694/scriptures-64-arts-and-14-sciences . Why should they not be part of hinduism website ? all 4 varnas and all 4 ashramas are included in sanatana dharma. if we focus only on brahmana varna & sanyasa ashrama, what about the rest ? – ram Nov 12 '18 at 18:50

0 Answers0