How to play Leela: the complete rules

Leela Atlas team · Updated 14 October 2026

To play Leela, set a question, place your token on square 68 and wait for a six to be born on square 6. Move by the die along the 72 squares, rise on arrows and fall on snakes, and read each square you stop on. The game ends when you land exactly on 68, Cosmic Consciousness.

What do you need to play Leela?

On a table you need Harish Johari's 72-square board, one ordinary six-sided die, a small personal object for each player (Johari suggests "an object, such as a ring"), the book of commentaries and a journal. Any number of people can play; one to six is usual, and solo play is common.

Online, Leela Atlas provides the board, a fair 3D die thrown on the server, the meaning of every square and a journal that saves itself into your Atlas. If you prefer, you can throw your own physical die and tap the number you got.

Step 1: How do you choose your question?

Before the first throw, write one question or intention. Good questions are open and keep responsibility with you: "What is preventing me from finishing my book?", "What do I need to understand about this relationship?" Avoid questions that hand the decision to the game, such as "Should I take this job?"

Step 2: How do you enter the board?

Every token starts "unborn" on square 68, Cosmic Consciousness. Players throw in turn. Any number other than six leaves you waiting. The first six brings your token into the game at 1 Genesis and straight on to 6 Delusion: every player begins life in delusion.

Because you threw a six, you throw again at once and move on from square 6. If you wait a long time for your six, many guides suggest looking at your question again, as it may be unclear or premature.

Step 3: How do you move, and what are the rules of six?

Move forward the number shown, square by square, along the serpentine path. Only the square where you stop counts; squares you pass over have no effect. Players never block or capture each other.

Every six gives another throw, and the numbers are added and moved as one total. Three sixes followed by another number are cancelled: you return to where you stood before the sixes and move only the last number. Four or more sixes in a row are kept: you go on throwing until a number other than six appears and move the full total.

• On 20, you throw 6 then 2: move 8 to 28 Apt religion, an arrow up to 50.
• On 30, you throw 6, 6, 6, 4: the sixes are cancelled, move 4 to 34 Plane of taste.
• On 15, you throw 6, 6, 6, 6, 1: move 25 to 40 Plane of circulation.
• Unborn on 68, you throw 6 then 5: born on 6 Delusion, then move 5 to 11 Entertainment.

Step 4: What happens on arrows and snakes?

If you stop at the foot of an arrow, you rise to its tip. If you stop on the head of a snake, it swallows you and you come out at its tail. Both are compulsory. On Leela Atlas the move happens in two steps: your token stops on the square, you read it, then you press "Follow the arrow" or "Go down the snake". Read both squares, the one that moved you and the one where you arrive.

Step 5: How do you reach the goal at 68?

The game ends only when you land exactly on 68, either by count (for example on 66 throwing a two) or by the arrow of Spiritual Devotion from 54. Right knowledge (45) lifts you to 67, one square short of the goal.

When you arrive, the token returns to you and the game is over. Write what has become clear about your question.

What if you go past 68?

A throw that carries you beyond 68 takes you into the top row: 69 Absolute plane, 70 True nature, 71 Activity or 72 Tamoguna. The arrow of Mercy (17) also lifts you to 69, straight past the goal. Square 72, inertia, is the last snake and brings you back to 51 Earth.

On Leela Atlas, if a throw would carry you past 72, you move up to 72, go down the snake to 51 and play the rest of the throw from 51. In Johari's book such a throw is simply lost. From 51 a three lands on 54 Spiritual Devotion, the arrow to the goal.

How do you record and read the game?

Recording is part of Johari's rules: "The player should note down the course adopted by the symbol." For each move write the square, any arrow or snake, the key idea of the square and what it brings up about your question. If you make a mistake on Leela Atlas, you can undo the last throw once.

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