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Unveiling Gyan Chaupar: The Dharmic, Karmic Origins of Snakes and Ladders and the Soul’s Ascent
Gyan Chaupar—known in variants as Moksha Patam and Paramapada Sopanam—originated as a Dharmic simulator of karma, virtue, vice, and liberation long before its colonial reinvention as Snakes and Ladders. This article traces its historical boards, scripts, and iconography across Hindu and Jain milieus, and shows how the same ethical architecture aligns with Buddhist and Sikh…
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Vaikunta Ekadasi and Moksha Patam: Decoding Snakes and Ladders as a Path to Liberation
Vaikunta Ekadasi invites a reflective return to dharma, and the traditional game Moksha Patam (Snakes and Ladders) becomes a meditative tool for understanding karma and moksha. Ladders symbolize virtues like truth, compassion, charity, and devotion, while snakes represent vices such as anger, pride, greed, and delusion. The game aligns naturally with Ekadashi fasting and vrata,…
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Ebook: A future without Poverty
In ‘A Future without Poverty,’ the author challenges our conventional understanding of poverty and its solutions. Highlighting the limitations of traditional aid approaches, the narrative delves into a comprehensive exploration of poverty through a variety of perspectives, drawing insights from Hernando de Soto, Thomas Sowell, and others. The updated Snakes and Ladders model, introduced in…