Square 32: Plane of balance (maha- / mahar-loka)
Leela Atlas team · Updated
Square 32 in Leela is the Plane of balance, maha- or mahar-loka in Sanskrit. It is the heart of the board: the fourth of the lokas on the central column, where the desires of the lower chakras quiet down and energy begins to flow upward. The arrow of Charity rises here from square 20, and the square itself is a resting place.
What square 32 means
Johari describes the Plane of balance as the fourth loka, where the desires of the lower chakras are stilled and an upward flow begins from the heart. The first three rows were about survival, fantasy and power. Here those pulls have not disappeared, but they no longer run the player. With the lower desires quiet, energy is free to rise.
Mahar-loka, also written maha-loka, is the fourth of the seven lokas, the planes of existence in Indian cosmology. On the Leela board these planes form what Johari calls the spine of the game board: the central column of 5, 14, 23, 32, 41, 50, 59 and 68. Square 32 sits exactly in the middle of that column, as the heart sits between the lower and upper body.
The square gives its centre to the fourth row, Attaining Balance, linked to Anahata, the heart chakra of air. Johari says it is reached “through the arrow of charity.” The teaching is that balance is not a static midpoint but the result of giving: when one stops grasping, the heart settles, and steadiness follows as a natural consequence. On a board that keeps lifting and dropping the player, this square is a reminder that steadiness itself is a place one can return to.
On the board
The Plane of balance is the tip of an arrow: a player who lands on Charity (20) in row 3 is carried up here at once. It can also be reached by an ordinary throw, a 1 from the Plane of sanctity (31), a 2 from Good tendencies (30) or a 6 from Sorrow (26). No snake leaves 32. From here a 5 lands on True awareness (37), whose arrow rises to the Plane of bliss at 66.
Arrows arriving here: 20 Charity.
The Bhagavad Gita and this square
Its verse is Gita 2.48: evenness of mind is yoga, so meet pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike, and you will find steadiness. The Mahabharata episode is Bhishma on the bed of arrows, lying pierced yet calm, teaching dharma from the centre of his pain.
Evenness of mind is yoga. Meet pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike, and you will find steadiness.
Gita 2.48 · Bhishma on the bed of arrows
Questions to reflect on
- What would bring me back into balance?
- Which pull from below still decides for me without my noticing?
- What could I give away, in time, attention or things, to steady my heart?
Questions
What does square 32 mean in Leela?
Square 32, the Plane of balance (mahar-loka), is the heart of the board. In Johari's commentary the desires of the lower chakras are stilled here and energy begins to flow upward. It is the fourth loka on the central column, and it asks what would bring you back into balance in your own life.
Which arrow leads to square 32 in Leela?
The arrow of Charity, from square 20 in the third row, leads to square 32, the Plane of balance. Johari writes that the player reaches this plane through the arrow of charity: giving without seeking personal benefit transports him to the fourth level of the game. No snake starts on square 32.
Related squares
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