# Leela Square 16: Jealousy (dwesh) Meaning

Square 16 in Leela is Jealousy, dwesh in Sanskrit, and it is a snake. Landing here sends the player down to square 4, Greed, in the first row. Johari describes jealousy as suspicion and fear of a rival, born of fantasy that has been overindulged. The bite pulls energy back from the second chakra to the first.

## Meaning

Johari places Jealousy right after the Plane of fantasy for a reason. Imagination that runs unchecked begins to invent threats: someone who could take your place, your partner, your recognition. Jealousy is that fear of a rival, and it feeds on images more than facts. The suspicion grows in the mind long before anything happens outside.

The Sanskrit dwesh (dvesha) means aversion or hostility, the pushing away of what we dislike. It is the twin of raga, attraction. Together they are the pair that Indian philosophy sees behind most suffering. Jealousy is aversion turned toward a person who seems to threaten what we hold, and it is never far from wanting to hold more.

That is why the snake ends at Greed. In Johari's reading, the jealous player's energy is drawn back to the first chakra, Muladhara, where the urge to grasp and accumulate takes over. Square 16 sits in the second row, the Realm of Fantasy, under the Svadhisthana chakra, and it shows how a fall begins: not from a deed but from an imagined loss. The teaching is to recognise the fear early and see it for what it is, a story the mind is telling.

## On the board

Square 16 is the head of a snake in row 2, the Realm of Fantasy. A player arrives by an ordinary throw, often just after the Plane of fantasy (15); no arrow or snake from elsewhere ends here. Landing on 16 sends you straight down to square 4, Greed, in row 1. It is the second snake of the game, after Envy at 12. One square further on, 17 Mercy would have been an arrow up to 69.

Gita 3.34 teaches that attraction and aversion sit in every sense, lying in wait for the seeker, and that the true renunciate neither hates nor craves; jealousy is that aversion catching you. The Mahabharata's house of lac, ordered by Duryodhana to burn the Pandavas he envied, shows where such fear of a rival can lead.

## Questions

- What am I afraid of losing?
- Is the rival I fear real, or did my imagination build them?
- What would I hold more lightly if I trusted what I already have?

**What happens when you land on square 16 in Leela?**
Square 16, Jealousy, is a snake. When you land on it you go straight down to square 4, Greed, in the first row. Johari explains the drop: fear of a rival, born of overindulged fantasy, drags energy back to the first chakra, where the urge to grasp and possess takes hold. Play then continues from square 4.

**Why does jealousy lead to greed in Leela?**
Jealousy is the fear of losing something or someone to a rival. That fear makes us cling and want to secure more, which is greed. Johari describes the jealous player's energy falling back to the first chakra, the centre of survival and possession. Square 4 is the tail of this snake: the fear of loss becomes the hunger to have.

**What is the difference between Envy (12) and Jealousy (16) in Leela?**
Both are snakes in the second row. Envy at 12 is the discomfort of seeing others have more, felt when one feels unworthy of one's own position, and it drops the player to 8 Avarice. Jealousy at 16 is the fear of a rival taking what is yours, and it drops the player to 4 Greed.