Answer

Jain Gyan Chauper is a traditional educational board game used to teach Jain values such as punya, pāp, right conduct, spiritual progress, and the journey of the soul.

You may be able to find it through:

• Local Jain derasar / upashray / pathshala
• Jain pathshala teachers or Jain education groups
• Jain community bookstores or religious item stores
• Jain families who may already have a traditional version

If you cannot find a printed version, you can also create a simple home version for your children.

How to Build a Simple Jain Gyan Chauper

You can make it like a Jain values-based “Snakes and Ladders” game.

Materials:

• A large paper, cardboard, or poster board
• Markers or printed labels
• Dice
• Small tokens for players

Basic structure:

• Create numbered squares from start to finish.
• The final square can represent Moksha or spiritual liberation.
• Some squares should represent good qualities and right actions.
• Some squares should represent wrong actions and passions.

Ladders can represent virtues such as:

• Ahimsa — non-violence
• Satya — truthfulness
• Aparigraha — non-possessiveness
• Kshama — forgiveness
• Samayik — equanimity practice
• Daya — compassion
• Vinay — humility and respect
• Right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct

Snakes or downward paths can represent causes of spiritual fall such as:

• Himsa — violence
• Asatya — falsehood
• Krodh — anger
• Maan — ego
• Maya — deceit
• Lobh — greed
• Attachment to possessions
• Carelessness in conduct

How to Play

• Each player starts from the first square.
• Players roll the dice and move forward.
• If a player lands on a virtue, they move upward.
• If a player lands on a harmful action or passion, they move downward.
• The goal is to reach the final square, symbolizing spiritual progress toward liberation.

Spiritual Understanding

The purpose of Jain Gyan Chauper is not only entertainment. It helps children understand that:

• Good thoughts, good words, and good actions uplift the soul.
• Passions like anger, ego, deceit, and greed pull the soul downward.
• Spiritual progress requires awareness, discipline, compassion, and self-control.

Takeaway

You can start with a simple homemade version and use it as a family learning activity. While playing, gently discuss why each virtue helps the soul and why each fault causes bondage. This will make Jain Dharma meaningful and memorable for your children.