Square 20: Charity (daan)

Square 20 in Leela is Charity, daan in Sanskrit, and it is an arrow. Landing here lifts the player from the third row to square 32, the Plane of balance, in the heart row. Johari describes charity as giving without seeking any personal benefit. That kind of giving moves the player beyond the search for power into the steadiness of the heart.

What square 20 means

Johari places Charity just after the Plane of action, where the player has begun to seek recognition and power. Square 20 shows the turn: instead of gathering, the player gives. The point is not the size of the gift but the absence of calculation. Giving to be seen, to be thanked or to gain influence stays inside the third chakra; giving freely leaves it behind.

The Sanskrit daan (dana) means giving, the gift, generosity. In Indian traditions it is one of the core practices of ethical life, honoured in every school. Dana can be material, but it also includes time, attention, knowledge and protection. What makes it dana is the spirit in which it is offered. A small gift given freely weighs more on this board than a large one given with conditions.

This is why the arrow lands on 32, the Plane of balance, at the centre of the fourth row and the Anahata, or heart, chakra. Genuine generosity loosens the grip of the lower desires: when you can give without needing a return, you are no longer ruled by lack. Johari also notes that charity, together with mercy, can rescue a player who has fallen to Nullity. Square 20 teaches that open hands bring balance.

On the board

Square 20 is the foot of an arrow in row 3, the Theater of Karma. A player reaches it by an ordinary throw from the squares just before it; one who has fallen to square 13, Nullity, is only a few squares away. No other arrow or snake ends here. Landing on 20 lifts you to square 32, the Plane of balance, the central square of row 4 and the Anahata chakra.

The Bhagavad Gita and this square

Gita 17.20 describes sattvic giving as a gift made simply because it is right, to one who cannot repay, at the right time and place; given without expecting a return, it frees the giver. Karna, who gives away his protective armour and earrings to the one who asks, embodies this in the Mahabharata.

Sattvic giving is done simply because it is right, to one who cannot repay, at the right time and place. Give without expecting a return, and it frees you.

Gita 17.20 · Karna gives away his armour and earrings

Questions to reflect on

• What can I give without expecting anything back?
• When I give, what am I secretly hoping to receive?
• What do I have plenty of that someone near me lacks?