Square 7: Conceit (mada)
Leela Atlas team · Updated
Square 7 in Leela is Conceit, mada in Sanskrit: self-intoxication, false pride, castles in the air. Players arrive here when the snake of Bad company on square 24 drops them down from the third row. The square asks a sharp, useful question: where do you want to seem rather than be?
What square 7 means
Harish Johari describes mada as self-intoxication. The word carries the sense of drunkenness, and conceit works like a drink: it warms, inflates and blurs judgement. Johari's image of "castles in the air" captures it well, grand structures of self-image with nothing underneath to hold them up.
On the board, conceit is the landing place of the snake of bad company. Johari writes that "bad company... is the snake that leads the player to conceit." The people and influences around you shape how you see yourself. Company that flatters, competes or feeds illusions lets pride grow without any check from reality.
Conceit sits in row 1, The Fundamentals of Being, with Muladhara, the root chakra, and the earth element. Johari also says conceit gives birth to avarice on square 8, so pride and grasping stand side by side. The teaching is about honesty. Conceit is not confidence; it is a gap between the image and the person. Noticing where you perform rather than live is the first step toward closing that gap.
In play, conceit often hides behind good qualities: competence that wants applause, generosity that needs to be seen, spirituality that keeps score. The square does not ask you to shrink. It asks you to separate the work from the show, and to notice which people around you help you do that and which make it harder.
On the board
Square 7 is reached mainly through the snake of Bad company: a player who lands on square 24, in the third row, falls back to Conceit. It can also be reached by an ordinary throw from squares 2 to 6, for example a throw of one from Delusion at the very start of play. Square 7 has no arrow or snake of its own. From here the player keeps moving forward through row 1, The Fundamentals of Being.
Snakes arriving here: 24 Bad company.
The Bhagavad Gita and this square
Gita 16.4 names hypocrisy, arrogance and conceit as the first marks of the demonic nature. The fall of Nahusha, a king who rose to rule heaven and was cast down by his own arrogance, shows how quickly self-intoxication can reverse a climb.
Hypocrisy, arrogance and conceit are the first marks of the demonic nature. Self-intoxication blinds you; humility gives back clear sight.
Gita 16.4 · The fall of Nahusha
Questions to reflect on
- Where do I want to seem rather than be?
- Whose company makes my self-image grow faster than my actual work?
- Which castle in the air am I defending right now?
Questions
What happens when you land on square 7 in Leela?
Square 7, Conceit, has no arrow or snake, so the symbol stays and moves on with the next throw. Players usually arrive by falling from square 24, Bad company, or by a short throw from the squares just before it. The stop invites a look at where pride, image or the need to impress has replaced simple truth.
Why does bad company lead to conceit in Leela?
The snake of Bad company on square 24 ends on square 7. Johari writes that bad company "is the snake that leads the player to conceit". The surroundings we choose feed our self-image; company that flatters or competes inflates pride. The board shows the effect of influence as one sudden fall back to the first row.
What does mada mean?
Mada is the Sanskrit word for intoxication, and by extension for pride and conceit. In Leela it names square 7, which Johari describes as self-intoxication, false pride and "castles in the air". It sits in the first row, linked with Muladhara, among the basic passions.
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