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DISCOURSE 39
217 tions with his friends and relatives became strained and upset. He did not care for friends and relatives. All that he wanted was to gamble and to earn lakhs of rupees. Finally, one day, he lost everything and he became totally senseless and idiotic. His young wife at home began to lament over the misfortune that had befallen her family, and when she tried to persuade her husband to give up his ways, he replied not with words but with blows. One day, Chandulal also became a Yudhishtir. He too staked his wife and lost her. One day, Chandulal took his wife under the pretext of going to Surat. She did not know what he was about. He had travelled to Surat with the purpose of handing over his wife to his fellow-gamblers. When the train had left Ahmedabad, Chandulal's brother-in-law somehow came to know of all this. He took a taxi and proceeded to Surat. There he paid off what was due to the gamblers and took his sister home safely.
Later, Chandulal gave up gambling and took up another occupation. Many men like Chandulal take to gambling and ruin their families and themselves. Now-a-days, in all countries, there are clubs where people gamble and play at cards. Even the so-called educated people also go to clubs and gamble.
From the Audience: When people know that on account of gambling, even the Pandavas lost everything, how do they develop the habit of gambling ?
Maharajashri : Gamblers do not take the example of Yudhishtir. They take the example of Duryodhana. You know Duryodhana went on winning ? Actually, the propensity of human beings to become rich without hard work, is responsible for their becoming gamblers. The desire to become millionaires and multi-millionaires without working at all turns people into gamblers. Just as some merchants exploit this weakness of human beings, governments also exploit it. The governments have started lottery schemes. Even that is a kind of gambling. People desire to get a prize of one lakh rupees by buying a ticket worth one rupee. Now-adays, crores of people are caught in the snares of these government lotteries. There are various kinds of gambling and speculation even in commodities such as speculation in gold, silver,
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