Square 13: Nullity (antariksha)
Leela Atlas team · Updated
Square 13 in Leela is Nullity, antariksha in Sanskrit: the empty space between earth and heaven. It names the hollow, restless feeling that follows energy spent without purpose. It sits in the second row, the Realm of Fantasy, and it is also where the snake of Negative intellect (61) drops a player. Johari treats it as a passing state.
What square 13 means
Harish Johari describes Nullity as the space between, a gap where meaning seems to drain away. It comes after energy has been scattered: plans fall flat, effort feels pointless, and the mind cannot settle. Johari is clear that this is transient. Nothing is fixed here; the feeling is real, but it is not a verdict.
The Sanskrit antariksha means the intermediate region, the atmosphere that hangs between the earth below and the heavens above. The image fits the state: you are no longer grounded in simple needs, yet you have not found a higher footing either. You hang in the air, and that suspension is what feels like emptiness.
Nullity belongs to the second row, the Realm of Fantasy, governed by the Svadhisthana chakra and the element of water. In this row the senses and the imagination wake up, and imagination can just as easily dissolve into vagueness. Square 13 teaches the player to notice where strength is leaking away. It also teaches patience: the empty pause is a place to stand still, take stock and let the next movement come, rather than a place to stay. In Johari's sequence, the squares that follow offer mercy and charity, so the gap is always close to a way forward.
On the board
Square 13 is a plain square in row 2, the Realm of Fantasy: it has no arrow and no snake of its own. A player reaches it by an ordinary throw from earlier squares, or falls here from far above, because the snake of Negative intellect at square 61 lands on 13. From here play simply continues, and two arrows lie close ahead: Mercy at 17 and Charity at 20.
Snakes arriving here: 61 Negative intellect.
The Bhagavad Gita and this square
In Gita 6.38 Arjuna fears vanishing like a torn cloud, with no footing here or beyond, and Krishna answers that whoever does good is never lost; Nullity is that pause, not an ending. The Mahabharata mirrors it in Yudhishthira's despair after the war.
Arjuna feared vanishing like a torn cloud, with no footing here or beyond. Krishna replies: whoever does good is never lost. Emptiness is only a pause.
Gita 6.38 · Yudhishthira's despair after the war
Questions to reflect on
- Where am I losing meaning and strength?
- What did I recently pour energy into that left me feeling empty?
- What small, honest step would give me footing again?
Questions
What happens when you land on square 13 in Leela?
Nothing moves you: square 13, Nullity, is a plain square with no arrow or snake. You stay with the feeling it names, the emptiness after wasted energy, and continue on your next throw. Two arrows lie just ahead, Mercy at 17 and Charity at 20, so the way out of the gap is close.
Why does the snake from square 61 lead to Nullity?
Square 61 is Negative intellect, the mind that doubts everything, including any sense of a deeper presence. Johari shows that doubt of that kind does not lead to clarity but to emptiness, so its snake drops the player from row 7 to square 13. A sharp mind that loses its ground ends up suspended in the space between.
What does antariksha mean?
Antariksha is the Sanskrit word for the intermediate space or atmosphere between earth and heaven. In Leela it names a state of being suspended: you have left simple, grounded needs behind but have not yet found a higher footing. The word describes the feeling of square 13 precisely, an in-between place rather than a destination.
Related squares
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