"Gambling of the gambler"

From last weeks assignment, when reading Chapter 10 I was somewhat confused about why exactly Krishna claimed to be the “gambling of the gambler.” My confusion probably stems from that the western idea of gambling being a sinful pastime. In the Easwaran chapter summary it states that gambling was seen as a royal hobby enjoyed by any King. Still, this did not fully explain to me why Krishna chose this specific word to describe himself.

It wasn’t until reading through my Spirituality and World Religions textbook, “Living Religions,” that I realized the historical significance of gambling in religions. I came upon a brief paragraph summarizing the importance of gambling in indigenous cultures. In many ceremonial practices throwing of the dice was symbolic of death and rebirth, as well as, the movement of the sun, moon and stars. It is representative of a person’s always changing mood, whether it is happiness or sadness. Also, among some indigenous tribes gaming rituals were used to help change the seasons, or help shift night to day.

I found this to be pretty interesting and just thought I would share it with you guys!