I played snakes and ladders at church with some children a couple of years ago and was reminded of my own childhood when we played the game at home as a family and am impressed that this simple game has stood the test of time for over fifty years. I decided to look at how old the game is, assuming that it dated back to Victorian Britain, but was surprised to discover that it actually dates way back to ancient India where it was called Mokshapat or Moksha Patamu and dates back over eight hundred years. It is believed that the game was played as early as the second century BC.
When I played it a few years ago, it was in the context of an act of worship and was frowned upon by some, not because of the board game itself, but because of bringing dice into Church and consequently reducing an act of worship to some kind of sinful act and I accepted my error of judgement. However, the game is believed to have been invented for the moral instruction of children and had its roots in Hinduism, which might well have fueled the opinion of my critics after the service, if only they’d have known.
In the early Hindu versions of the game, the area of play was printed on cloth and represented the journey of life, that ultimately led to God. Each square was illustrated and a virtuous act would be rewarded by a ladder, accelerating the player higher up the board, promoting you closer to God. The squares containing sinful acts would sit at the head of a snake which would plummed you back to a lower ranking. The length of the snakes or the ladders reprented the severity of the sin, or the virtue of the good acts, there were more snakes than ladders in the traditional game and the ultimate sin always came, just as the player almost reached their goal.
The game found it’s way to England in the twentieth century and in good old British fashion, it seemed much fairer to have an equal number of snakes and ladders, the religious links with the game disappeared and the sentiment became more a lesson of luck, teaching children that as we journey through life, so much of our success depends on luck. I would hold that the game can teach us much more, than simply accepting that fortunate oportunities can promote us in life, while bad luck can knock us back.
I believe that the world maybe needs to revisit the idea that the core of our Christian faith, is, learning the teaching of Jesus and applying those morals and ethics to our lives. When we live by God’s guidance we are promoted closer to him and we perform sinful acts, we move further away. I still think that is a valuable lesson in the modern world.