Yudhishthira's Dyuta: The Esoteric Vedic Akshavidya

It is wrong to call Dharmaraj Yudhishthir a gambler.

How many times in his life did Dharmaraj Yudhishthir play dyuta (game of dice)? How many times must one play to be called an "addict"?

It is also wrong to call dyutavidya (science of dice) gambling.

Why did Dharmaraj Yudhishthir have to learn dyutavidya from a rishi (sage)? Why did he not find any teacher other than a rishi? Was there no other expert besides Shakuni?

The condemnation of turning akshavidya (science of dice and letters) into gambling is found in the Rigveda. But why was it called akshavidya?

Ksha, Tra, Gya are conjunct consonants (sanyuktaksara). Then why was the akshamala (garland of letters) considered to run from "A" to "Ksha"?

Why was akshavidya called dyutavidya? What is the connection of the letters of devalipi (divine script) with the devas (deities)? What is the connection of the verbal root (dhatu) of dyuta with the devas? Was there a tradition of a kshatriya (warrior) rejecting an invitation to dyuta? Why?

Akshavidya was a secret and vast vidya (science). It had many angas (limbs). Many chakras (esoteric diagrams) of Vedic tantra (ritual system) emerged from it, such as Sarvatobhadra, Shatapada, etc. Every letter had multiple applications and meanings.

Akshavidya is and will remain a secret science. Chess is a distortion of this very science. "Shat" is non-Indian and belongs to a later period. There are 64 letters in the Veda, and there are 64 squares in chess. The art of warfare is an anga of dyuta; without learning this, no one can become a complete kshatriya.

-- Acharya (preceptor) Vinay Jha

Emperor Yudhishthir – Sovereign, World-Conquering Creator of the Hindu Nation