The game had its origin in
Now, when and who created this game? Most people believe it was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. There are certain references which take the game back to 2nd century BC.
The ladders represented virtues and snakes vices. In the original game square 12 was faith, 51 was Reliability, 57 was Generosity, 76 was Knowledge, and 78 was Asceticism. These were the squares were the ladder was found.
Square 41 was for Disobedience, 44 for Arrogance, 49 for Vulgarity, 52 for Theft, 58 for Lying, 62 for Drunkenness, 69 for Debt, 84 for Anger, 92 for Greed, 95 for Pride, 73 for Murder and 99 for Lust. These were the squares were the snake was found.
The Square 100 represented Nirvana or Moksha.
11 comments:
I enjoyed reading this post and wanted to know were these virtues written on the board? How exactly was this information interpreted and imparted to the children.
Thank you
Wow, you wouldve thought.
I loved playing the game as a child. Of course, modern versions do not have the vices and virtues printed on the board! But family seems to remember it, and that wasn't too long ago...
Dear sir... This site is really excellent... i was looking for various mantras on internet...fortunately i come across with this site and i found all the mantras whichever is required...i liked the most is avalabilty of various vedic chants for free...
Dear sir... This site is really excellent... i was looking for various mantras on internet...fortunately i come across with this site and i found all the mantras whichever is required...i liked the most is avalabilty of various vedic chants for free...
the hinduism is the great religion everything was written by our ancients but we people never knows how to respect our ancients and their wise saying. in this game actualy ending of the stage is reaching to hari lord vishnu . that means mukthi but in snakesand ladder they kept home
I seem to remember an extended version my family played when I was younger, in which the goal was not simply reaching the final square but extended beyond that. Above the hundred-square board, there were images of the Devas in a line all leading to the final image of Lord Vishnu. Once the player crossed the hundredth square, the player moved on this line until (s)he reached Lord Vishnu, presumably attaining moksha.
I also remember that, when I played the game as a child, if a player was near the hundredth square but rolled the dice higher than what was required to land on the 100th square, the player needed to move to the square and then count backwards for the additional number of spaces rolled above what was needed to land on the last square. However, if I'm not mistaken, there was no such going backwards after passing the hundredth square - the player simply progressed to "moksha" faster.
This information is really a piece to be passed to next generations. May be we can make our children play and telling them these meaning of each snake and relavant troubles with those bad habits.
The game is called vaikunTapALI in Telugu.
Do you know of anyplace where an original version of the game can be purchased? I saw one at the Meenakshi Temple about a year ago -- just a poster-sized paper version; I intended to pick up a copy on my way out, forgot, and have regretted it since.
no i am also searching...encouraging to hear that you saw it near Madurai Meenakshi Temple....
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