[Advaita-l] The 'Snake-and-ladder' game - The Spiritual path

[D.V.N.Sarma డి.వి.ఎన్.శర్మ]

 >he OP has only mentioned that British might have changed the name of the
this game in order to subvert our rich culture and heritage (which is par
for the course for our missionary friends.)

What made me comment is the  statement below.

>>  The British (intentionally to break our rich culture & education
system) later named it Snakes and Ladders instead of the original Moksha
Patam.

I do not see any misconstruction on my part,

I do not understand how the adoption of Mokshapata as snakes and ladders
(If it was actually done) breaks our rich culture.

I only said that this tendency to ascribe motives to the westerners in
every case cannot be true.

All of us should  try to liberate ourselves from our  bias, prejudices,
pet-beliefs. We should also doubt the various traditions which muddle our
thinking.
Advaita teaches us to doubt the very reality of the external world . After
all various traditions are products of the external world. Doubting the
external world but preserving its traditions does not make sense.

regards,
Sarma.

On Fri, Jul 27, 2018 at 1:34 PM, Murali k <methusala8 at gmail.com> wrote:

> @ D.V.N Sharma,
>
> The OP has only mentioned that British might have changed the name of the
> this game in order to subvert our rich culture and heritage (which is par
> for the course for our missionary friends.) Neither has  he called the
> westerners dumb  or has  he mentioned Indians are the 'only intelligent
> people around'.
>
> Maybe, it would helpful if you stop deriving unintended meanings from this
> post and start  ' doubting' your own conclusions. This will liberate you
> from misconstruing the views of others.
>
> Best,
> Murali
>
> On 27 July 2018 at 06:50, D.V.N.Sarma డి.వి.ఎన్.శర్మ via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> This is prevalent in Andhra as Paramapadasopanapathamu with Vaishnava
>> terminology and influence.. Once you reach the top most row you are safe
>> because there is no more fear of punarjanma..
>> Only you have to make a number of oscillations across the top row till
>> your
>> score leads you exactly to the Lord's square. Suppose the westerners
>> adapted it as snakes and ladders what is wrong. Why do we bait westerners
>> day in and day out.  The idea westerners are dumb and we are the only
>> intelligent people in the world is unrealistic premises. See what they are
>> doing in science and technology now. Even in the earlier cennturies our
>> people learned a lot astronomy from them. You will find the mention of
>> Yavanacharyas and Romakas in our astrological texts.
>>
>> I played the above game in my childhood a number of times. Even now, may
>> be, it is played in rural areas.
>>
>> regards,
>> Sarma.
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 27, 2018 at 4:51 AM, Dev Babu via Advaita-l <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>> > That is Amazing!
>> > Many Thanks for sharing this.
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jul 27, 2018 at 12:17 AM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
>> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>> >
>> > > Copied and pasted from FB page of Ajay Khemka
>> > > <https://www.facebook.com/ajay.khemka.75?fref=mentions>
>> > >
>> > > Unbelievable!!!
>> > > The 13th century poet saint Gyandev created a children's game called
>> > Moksha
>> > > Patam. The British (intentionally to break our rich culture &
>> education
>> > > system) later named it Snakes and Ladders instead of the original
>> Moksha
>> > > Patam.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > In the original one hundred square game board, the 12th square was
>> faith,
>> > > the 51st square was reliability, the 57th square was generosity, the
>> 76th
>> > > square was knowledge, and the 78th square was asceticism. These were
>> the
>> > > squares where the ladders were found and one could move ahead faster.
>> The
>> > > 41st square was for disobedience, the 44th square for arrogance, the
>> 49th
>> > > square for vulgarity, the 52nd square for theft, the 58th square for
>> > lying,
>> > > the 62nd square for drunkenness, the 69th square for debt, the 84th
>> > square
>> > > for anger, the 92nd square for greed, the 95th square for pride, the
>> 73rd
>> > > square for murder and the 99th square for lust. These were the squares
>> > > where the snake waited with its mouth open. The 100th square
>> represented
>> > > Nirvana or Moksha.The tops of each ladder depict a God, or one of the
>> > > various heavens (kailasa, vaikuntha, brahmaloka) and so on. As the
>> game
>> > > progressed various actions were supposed to take you up and down the
>> > board
>> > > as in life... Amazing, isn't it???!
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > https://www.facebook.com/subrahmanian.vaidyanathan/
>> > posts/2215995825080433
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