# Leela Square 37: True awareness (gyana) (jnana) Meaning

Square 37 in Leela is True awareness, gyana (jnana in Sanskrit), the first square of the fifth row. It stands for knowing what is right and seeing how to live it. Landing here sends the player up an arrow to square 66, the plane of bliss, one of four arrows on the board that end in the top row.

## Meaning

Harish Johari describes gyana as knowledge of the right together with insight into how to live it. It is not book learning or a store of facts. It is the moment when understanding becomes clear enough to shape how you act, speak and choose.

The Sanskrit jnana comes from the root jna, to know, the same root behind the English word know. In Indian thought it names knowing that transforms the knower. Johari adds an important caution: gyana is not liberation. It carries the player very high, to the plane of bliss, but it does not by itself end the game. Knowledge opens the door; living it is another matter.

Square 37 opens row 5, which Johari calls Man Becomes Himself and links to Vishuddha, the throat chakra, whose element is ether. The throat is the centre of expression, where what is understood inwardly can be voiced. It fits that this row begins with true awareness: the player who has crossed the heart row now knows something real and must decide what to do with it.

The square teaches the gap between knowing and doing. Most people already know more than they practise. Gyana asks you to notice that gap honestly, without guilt, and to close it one step at a time.

## On the board

Square 37 is the first square of row 5. Players usually reach it with a throw from the heart row, from squares 31 to 36, the last stretch of the fourth row. No arrow or snake ends here. On landing, the arrow of gyana lifts the player at once from row 5 to row 8 and square 66, the plane of bliss.

The verse for this square is Gita 4.38: nothing in this world is as pure as knowledge, and one full of faith who masters the senses gains it and soon reaches the highest peace. Its episode is the Anugita, where Arjuna admits he has forgotten the teaching and Krishna must give it again, a reminder that knowledge fades unless it is lived.

## Questions

- What do I already know but fail to apply?
- Which piece of understanding have I received more than once without acting on it?
- What would one small step of living what I know look like today?

**What happens when you land on square 37 in Leela?**
Square 37, True awareness (gyana), holds an arrow. When you land on it you climb straight from the fifth row to square 66, the plane of bliss, in the top row of the board. It is one of the longest climbs in the game and one of four arrows that end in row 8, together with Mercy (17), Right knowledge (45) and Spiritual devotion (54).

**Does reaching gyana mean you have won Leela?**
No. Johari states plainly that gyana is not liberation. The arrow takes you to square 66, the plane of bliss, which is close to the goal but not the goal. The game ends only on square 68, Cosmic Consciousness, so knowledge brings you near the end while still leaving play ahead.