Parampada-sopan-patam

Mokṣa Paṭam Vaikunthapali

Jñāna Chaupar/Gyan Chaupad

Saap Seedhi

Snakes and Ladders

Parampadam (also known as Moksha Patam or Jnana Chaupar) is an ancient Indian board game that teaches moral and spiritual lessons. It is the original form of the modern game Snakes and Ladders.

In Parampadam, the board represents the journey of life (saṃsāra). The ladders stand for good qualities or virtues (guṇa) that help a person rise higher, while the snakes represent bad qualities or vices (doṣa) that bring a person down. The goal of the game is to reach the final square, which symbolizes moksha, or liberation—freedom from the cycle of birth and death.

Traditional versions of the game sometimes had larger boards, such as those with 132 squares, but most modern versions use a 10×10 board with 100 squares.

Origin

This game was played in medieval India, Nepal and this region, with boards explicitly mapping virtues and vices and final squares signifying merger with the Divine.

Moral labeling: Traditional boards named squares for guṇa, for example, dāna, śraddhā, and jñāna, and doṣa, for example mada, lobha, hiṃsā. Sometimes including theological concepts like māyā and dharma.

Pedagogic intent: The number of snakes often exceeded ladders to emphasize the difficulty of the path to enlightenment and the vigilance required in dharmic conduct.

This game was transported to England. In 1832, Captain Henry Dundas Robertson presented the ‘Shastree’s Game of Heaven and Hell’ to the Royal Asiatic Society in London, writes Mukherjee in an article. “When the game returned to India, it had become a children’s race game, with the spiritual script deleted and its venom much gone. The colonial filter has cleaned us out a lot”.

Key terms used in the game

1.Mokṣa: Liberation, spiritual release (final square).

2.Dharma: Right conduct/duty; adharma: non-virtue.

3.Guṇa: Virtue; doṣa/pāpa: vice.

4.Karma–phala: Action and consequence; ascents/descents as outcomes.

5.Saṃsāra: Cyclic existence; yoga/sādhanā: disciplined

practice toward liberation.

6.Sopāna: Ladder; sarpa: snake; pāśa: die.

The images below depict typical boards

The Setup

Board Design (Pata-vinyāsa)

●Traditional variation: Some lineages describe larger boards (e.g., 132 squares) to host rich moral mapping and staged progressions.

●Modern standard: 10×10 grid, squares numbered 1→100. Ladders connect lower squares to higher; snakes connect higher squares to lower.

●Iconography: Squares at the base/top of ladders and the head/tail of snakes often bear virtues/vices or cosmological labels (e.g., Brahmaloka, Pṛthvī), sometimes enforcing prescribed moral sequences.

Material required

1.1 board (traditional moral-labeled or modern numeric grid).

2.1 six-sided die (ṣaḍ-bhujī pāśa).

3.2–4 player tokens (cihna/gotikā). Some regional sets permit

more players.^[1][2]

The Play (Kriyā-vidhi)

1.Entry: Players take turns; many traditions require an entry roll (often 1 or 6) to place the token on square 1.

2.Movement: Advance forward by the die value rolled.

3.Ladders (sopāna): Landing exactly on a ladder’s base ascends the token to its apex (symbolic of guṇa elevating the jīva).

4.Snakes (sarpa): Landing on a snake’s head descends the

token to its tail (symbolic of doṣa causing regression).

5.Rolling a six: Commonly grants one extra roll; three consecutive sixes may incur a house-rule penalty (e.g., skip a turn).

6.Exact finish: Players must roll the exact pip count to land on the final mokṣa square; overshoots do not move.

Winning Condition

●The first player to reach the final square (mokṣa-sthāna) with an exact roll attains ‘mokṣa’ symbolically, winning the game.

Moral Pedagogy

1.Virtues as ladders: dāna (generosity), vinaya (humility), satya (truthfulness), śraddhā (faith), jñāna (knowledge) elevate progress.^[3][1]

2.Vices as snakes: lobha (greed), mada (pride), krodha (anger), moha/māyā (delusion), hiṃsā (violence), ṛṇa (debt) cause descent.

3.Karmic causality: Ascents/descents model karma–phala; some boards require visiting certain squares by exact roll to reflect necessary moral trials before liberation.

Traditional vs. Modern Editions

1.Traditional (Jñāna Chaupar/Mokṣa Paṭam): Explicit moral labeling, theological cosmology, more snakes than ladders, sometimes mandated descents and ordered progress.^[2][3][1]

2.Modern (Snakes and Ladders): Moral labels typically removed; core mechanic retained as a chance-driven race to 100.

Move Examples

●Example A: A marker on 28; a ladder 28→55. A roll landing on 28 ascends to 55 immediately; relate the ascent to a chosen guṇa (e.g., satya) and discuss how this models karmic upliftment.^[1]

●Example B: A marker on 97; there is a snake at 99. If the player rolls 5, the marker does not move (overshoot); a subsequent exact 3 would land at 100 and win. Discuss ‘vigilance’ near mokṣa and the risk of last-moment fall (doṣa). [General rule application]

Classroom assessment

●Define mokṣa, dharma, guṇa, doṣa within game context.

●Why do many heritage boards include more snakes than ladders? Provide a karmic explanation.

●Explain how ‘exact roll’ reinforces the metaphor of disciplined practice.

Comparative Analysis of Moksha Patam Board Variants

Feature

72-Square Gyan Chaupar (Hindu)

84-Square Gyan Chaupar (Jain)

100-Square Moksha Patam (Vaishnava)

Grid Size

Typically, 9×8

Typically, 9×9

Most commonly 10×10

Goal Square (Moksha)

(Liberation/Heaven)

Varies (Jain Cosmology)

100

(Vaikuntha/Pe rfection)

Starting Point

Square 1 (Narak Dwar)

Varies

Square 1

(or 6 in some texts)

Philosophical Density

Highest

(72 planes/states)

High (Jain concepts)

Medium (Simplified virtues/vices)

Failure Mechanism

72 returns player to 51

(Theological Reset)

Snake triggers regression

Inner moral weakness

Notes

Parampadam embodies India’s pedagogic heritage where play conveys dharmaśāstra insights. By turning chance into moral reflection—through ladders and snakes—it frames progress and

setbacks as consequences within saṃsāra, guiding learners

toward mokṣa as the aspirational end-state.