Square 23: Celestial plane (swarga-loka)
Leela Atlas team · Updated
Square 23 in Leela is the Celestial plane, swarga-loka in Sanskrit: heaven. It is a paradise of thoughts and desires free from the lower vices, and it sits at the centre of the third row, the Theater of Karma. The arrow of Purification from square 10 lands here. Johari makes clear that heaven is a resting place on the way, not the way out.
What square 23 means
Johari describes the Celestial plane as the third loka, linked to the element of fire. Here desire still exists, but it has risen to the level of thought, free of the cruder vices of the lower squares. The player enjoys a sense of goodness, beauty and reward. He adds that heaven is built on the scaffolding of dharma: it is the natural result of right living.
The Sanskrit swarga-loka is the heavenly world of Indian cosmology, the realm of Indra and the gods, where those who have done good enjoy the fruit of their merit. It is the third step on the board's spine of lokas, after bhu-loka at 5 and bhuvar-loka at 14, at the heart of the Manipura chakra. Its element is fire, which here becomes light rather than heat.
The key word is temporary. In Indian thought swarga is real, yet merit runs out, and those who enjoy it return to the mortal world. The board says the same thing: square 23 lies in the third row, far from 68, Cosmic consciousness. A player who rises here quickly through Purification can mistake comfort for completion. Square 23 teaches the player to enjoy a good state without making it the goal, and to keep moving.
On the board
Square 23 is the central square of row 3, the Theater of Karma, and the tail of an arrow: Purification at square 10 lifts a player straight here from the second row. Players also arrive by an ordinary throw. Square 23 itself has no arrow or snake, so you stay here until the next throw. Just ahead, square 24, Bad company, is a snake down to 7 Conceit.
Arrows arriving here: 10 Purification.
The Bhagavad Gita and this square
Gita 9.20 teaches that heaven is real but temporary: when merit runs out, beings return to the mortal world. In the Mahabharata, Arjuna spends time in Indra's heaven, honoured and trained there, and then must return to earth to face the war.
Heaven is real but temporary: when merit runs out, beings return to the mortal world. Enjoy it, but do not take paradise for the goal.
Gita 9.20 · Arjuna in Indra's heaven
Questions to reflect on
- Where am I resting instead of moving on?
- Which comfort have I mistaken for an arrival?
- What good in my life is asking me to go further?
Questions
What happens when you land on square 23 in Leela?
Square 23, the Celestial plane, is a plain square: no arrow or snake begins here, so you stay until your next throw. It is the landing place of the arrow of Purification from square 10. The square invites you to enjoy what is good while remembering that heaven, in Leela, is a resting place and not the goal.
Why is heaven not the goal in Leela?
Because in Indian thought heaven, swarga, is earned by merit, and merit runs out. Those who enjoy it eventually return to the mortal world. On the board, square 23 lies in the third row, far below 68, Cosmic consciousness. Johari presents it as a stop built on dharma, a reward along the way, not liberation.
Which arrow leads to square 23 in Leela?
The arrow of Purification at square 10, the first arrow of the game, leads to square 23, the Celestial plane. Johari explains that reforming the senses, the organs of action and daily habits raises the player's vibration and lifts them immediately from the second row into heaven.
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