Why Krishna did not save Pandavas during Dice play??

Why did Krishna not save the Pandavas when they played dice with Duryadhana & Shakuni?
Wonderful explanation by Krishna himself:
From his childhood, Uddhava had been with Krishna, charioting him and serving him in many ways. He never asked for any wish or boon from Sri Krishna. When Krishna was at the verge of completing His Avatar, he called Uddhava and said,‘Dear Uddhava, in this avatar of mine, many people have asked and received boons from me; but you never asked me anything. Why don’t you ask something now? I will give you. Let me complete this avatar with the satisfaction of doing something good for you also’.
Even though Uddhava did not ask anything for himself, he had been observing Krishna from his childhood. He had always wondered about the apparent disconnect between Krishna’s teachings and actions, and wanted to understand the reasons for the same. He asked Krishna, ‘Lord, you taught us to live in one way, but you lived in a different way. In the drama of Mahabharat, in the role you played, in your actions, I did not understand many things. I am curious to understand the reasons for your actions. Would you fulfil my desire to know?’
Krishna said, ‘Uddhava, what I told Arjuna during the war of Kurukshetra was Bhagavad Gita. Today, my responses to you would be known as ‘Uddhava Gita’. That is why I gave this opportunity to you. Please ask without hesitation.’
Uddhava starts asking – ‘Krishna, first tell me who is a real friend?’
Krishna says, ‘The real friend is one who comes to the help of his friend in need even without being called’.
Uddhava: ‘Krishna, you were a dear friend of the Pandavas. They trusted you fully as Apadhbhandava (protector from all difficulties). Krishna, you not only know what is happening, but you know what is going to happen. You are a great gyani. Just now you gave the definition of a true, close friend. Then why did you not act as per that definition. Why did you not stop Dharmaraj (Yudhishtra)
from playing the gambling game? Ok, you did not do it; why did you not turn the luck in favour of Dharmaraj, by which you would have ensured that dharma wins. You did not do that also. You could have at least saved Dharmaraj by stopping the game after he lost his wealth, country and himself. You could have released him from the punishment for gambling. Or, you could have entered the hall when he started betting his brothers. You did not do that either. At least when Duryodhana tempted Dharmaraj by offering to return everything lost if he betted Draupadi (who always brought good fortune to Pandavas), you could have intervened and with your divine power you could have made the dices roll in a way that is favorable to Dharmaraj. Instead, you intervened only when Draupadi almost lost her modesty and now you claim that you gave clothes and saved Draupadi’s modesty; how can you even claim this – after her being dragged into the hall by a man and disrobed in front of so many people, what modesty is left for a woman? What have you saved? Only when you help a person at the time of crisis, can you be called ‘Apadhbandhava’. If you did not help in the time of crisis, what is the use? Is it Dharma?’ As Uddhava posed these questions, tears started rolling from his eyes.
These are not the questions of Uddhava alone. All of us who have read Mahabharata have these questions. On behalf of us, Uddhava had already asked Krishna.
Bhagavan Krishna laughed. ‘Dear Uddhava, the law of this world is: ‘only the one who has Viveka (intelligence through discrimination), wins’. While Duryodhana had viveka, Dharmaraj lacked it. That is why Dharmaraj lost’.
Uddhava was lost and confused. Krishna continues ‘While Duryodhana had lots of money and wealth to gamble, he did not know how to play the game of dice. That is why he used his Uncle Shakuni to play the game while he betted. That is viveka. Dharmaraj also could have thought similarly and offered that I, his cousin, would play on his behalf. If Shakuni and I had played the game of dice, who do you think would have won? Can he roll the numbers I am calling or would I roll the numbers he is asking. Forget this. I can forgive the fact that he forgot to include me in the game. But, without viveka, he did another blunder. He prayed that I should not come to the hall as he did not want me to know that through ill-fate he was compelled to play this game. He tied me with his prayers and did not allow me to get into the hall; I was just outside the hall waiting for someone to call me through their prayers. Even when Bheema, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva were lost, they were only cursing Duryodhana and brooding over their fate; they forgot to call me. Even Draupadi did not call me when Dusshasan held her hair and dragged her to fulfil his brother’s order. She was also arguing in the hall, based on her own abilities. She never called me. Finally good sense prevailed; when Dusshasan started disrobing her, she gave up depending on her own strength, and started shouting ‘Hari, Hari, Abhayam Krishna, Abhayam’ and shouted for me. Only then I got an opportunity to save her modesty. I reached as soon as I was called. I saved her modesty. What is my mistake in this situation?
‘Wonderful explanation, Kanna, I am impressed. However, I am not deceived. Can I ask you another question’, says Uddhava. Krishna gives him the permission to proceed.
'Does it mean that you will come only when you are called! Will you not come on your own to help people in crisis, to establish justice?’, asks Uddhava.
Krishna smiles. ‘Uddhava, in this life everyone’s life proceeds based on their own karma. I don’t run it; I don’t interfere in it. I am only a ‘witness’. I stand close to you and keep observing whatever is happening. This is God’s Dharma’.
‘Wow, very good Krishna. In that case, you will stand close to us, observe all our evil acts; as we keep committing more and more sins, you will keep watching us. You want us to commit more blunders, accumulate sins and suffer’, says Uddhava.
Krishna says.’Uddhava, please realise the deeper meaning of your statements. When you understand & realise that I am standing as witness next to you, how could you do anything wrong or bad. You definitely cannot do anything bad. You forget this and think that you can do things without my knowledge. That is when you get into trouble. Dharmaraj’s ignorance was that he thought he can play the game of gambling without my knowledge. If Dharmaraj had realized that I am always present with everyone in the form of ‘Sakshi’ (witness), then wouldn’t the game have finished differently?’
Uddhava was spellbound and got overwhelmed by Bhakti. He said, ‘What a deep philosophy. What a great truth! Even praying and doing pooja to God and calling Him for help are nothing but our feeling / belief. When we start believing that nothing moves without Him, how can we not feel his presence as Witness? How can we forget this and act? Throughout Bhagavad Gita, this is the philosophy Krishna imparted to Arjuna. He was the charioteer as well as guide for Arjuna, but he did not fight on his own.’- Realize that Ultimate Sakshi/ Witnesser within & without you! And Merge in that God-Consciousness! Discover Thy Higher Self- The Pure Loveful & Blissful Supreme.

Is there Life???

Something interesting regarding those who believe and those who don't believe in God ! Very interesting. It stimulates our lateral thinking :

This lovely parable is from "Your Sacred Self" by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”

The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”

The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”

The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”

The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”

“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”

The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”

The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”

Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”

To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and  listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”

May be this was one of the best explanations to the  concept of 'GOD'.

DO NOT LIMIT YOUR GROWTH

"Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a Chinese wise man and his disciple. One day in their travels, they saw a hut in the distance. As they approached they realized that it was occupied in spite of its extremely poor appearance.

In that desolate place where there were no crops and no trees,a man lived with his wife, three young children and a thin, tired cow. Since they were hungry and thirsty, the wise man and his disciple stopped for a few hours and were well received. At one point, the wise man asked:
“This is a very poor place, far away from anything. How do you survive?” "You see that cow? That’s what keeps us going,” said the head of the family. “She gives us milk, some of it we drink and some were make into cheese. When there is extra, we go into the city and exchange the milk and cheese for other types of food. That’s how we survive.”

The wise man thanked them for their hospitality and left. When he reached the first bend in the road, he said to his disciple: "Go back, get the cow, take her to the cliff in front of us, and push her off.” The disciple could not believe what he was hearing.
“I cannot do that, master! How can you be so ungrateful? The cow is all they have. If I throw it on the cliff, they’ll have no way to survive. Without the cow, they’ll all die!”

The wise man, an elderly Chinese man, took a deep breath and repeated the order: “Go ahead. Push the cow off the cliff.” Though outraged at what he was being asked to do, the student was resigned to obey his master.

He returned to the hut and quietly led the animal to the edge of the cliff and pushed. The cow fell down the cliff and died.

As the years passed by, remorse for what he had done never left the disciple. One spring day, the guilt became too much to bear and he left the wise man and returned to that little shack. He wanted to find out what had happened to that family, to help them out, apologize, or somehow make amends.
Upon rounding a turn in the road, he could not believe what his eyes were showing him. In place of the poor shack there was a beautiful house with trees all
around, a swimming pool, several cars in the garage, a satellite dish, and on and on. Three good-looking teenagers and their parents were celebrating their first million dollars.

The heart of the disciple froze. What could have happened to the family? Without a doubt, they must have been starving to death and forced to sell their land and leave. At that moment, the student thought they must all be begging on the street corners of some city. He approached the house and asked a man that was passing by about the whereabouts of the family that had lived there several years before. “You’re looking at it,” said the man, pointing to the people gathered around the barbecue.

Unable to believe what he was hearing, the disciple walked through the gate and took a few steps closer to the pool where he recognized the man from several years before, only now he was strong and confident, the woman was happy, and the children were now nice-looking teenagers.
He was dumbfounded, and went over to the man and asked:
“What happened? I was here with my teacher a few years ago and this was a miserable place.
There was nothing. What did you do to improve your lives in such a short time?”
The man looked at the disciple, and replied with a smile:
“We had a cow that kept us alive. She was all we had. But one
day she fell down the cliff and died. To survive, we had to start doing other things, develop skills we didn’t even know we had.
And so, because we were forced to come up with new ways of
doing things, we are now much better off than before.”

Moral :
Sometimes our dependency
something small and limited is the biggest obstacle to our growth. Perhaps the best thing that could happen to us is to push our “cow” down the cliff...the biggest successes  people have achieved are mostly outside their comfort zones but purely with their effort zone !!