What is the reason of Teen Paati obsession during Janmashtami ?

It has been a custom in the Hindu religion where people get together to gamble (play teen paati) during the time of Janmashtami and Shraavan month, this blog will help you know the “why” about this long going custom that we have been practising.

This is the time of Shraavan Maas, when people fast for the whole month in the name of Lord Shiva. During this month of Shravan, Janmashtami also falls in, which is the celebrated as the birthday of Lord Krishna.

A lot of us in India are used to the custom of playing cards (Teen Paati) around this time of the whole Shravan month. We all enjoy a good family time and even get together at friend’s or relative’s place for that purpose. But what is the reason behind all the obsession of gambling or playing teen paati during this month of Shraavan?

According to the Hindu mythology, in the ancient times gambling, drinking, promiscuous relations and exhibition of wealth were not a taboo for the higher class of the society. But slowly and gradually these practices began to penetrate the upper middle class and the lower classes of the society too, that is when the Lord Krishna came in to curb the spread of these practices. And if discipline is to be maintained on a larger scale for a relatively longer time, deviants are must. In context to this, the society as a whole is given a legitimate freedom to try their hands on a few of these prevalent taboos such as gambling during this time. And thus, once the celebration is over people can get back to their rather disciplined routine to avoid any distractions.

This practice of gambling is linked with Janmashtami on the basis that Lord Krishna, under the Hindu Mythical books, is seen as a flow of unrestricted and unlimited energy, thus teaching us to break free of any sorts of social taboos just to live our lives naturally. And only because of this, a lot of practices that otherwise are considered antisocial become acceptable when they are linked with the Lord Krishna.

Lord Krishna also had an evil maternal uncle named Kansa, who was also once the king of Mathura. He is known as the one who first brought up the most basic anti social practices into the Hindu civilisation- Gambling, drinking, promiscuous relations and exhibition of wealth. Lord Krishna is said to destroy all of these social evils by killing Kansa.