Chess originated in India during the Gupta dynasty around the 6th century AD, where it was known as Chaturanga.
Chaturanga translates to “four divisions (of the military),” representing the infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. These divisions evolved into the modern pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively.
Chess is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information. Chess was designed for an ashtapada (8×8 squared board) with 64 squares.
At the start of the game, each player—one controlling the white pieces and the other controlling the black pieces—manages sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.
Chaturanga is regarded as the earliest known game to have different pieces with different powers and victory depending on the fate of one piece, the king, features found in later chess variations.
The game simulated Indian military strategy of the time, drawing inspiration from battle formations described in the Indian epic Mahabharata.
The objective of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king, which occurs when the king is under immediate attack (in “check”) and cannot escape.
There are also several ways a game can end in a draw. In a game of chess, there are numerous pawns. Interestingly, 50 percent of these pawns occupy high-status positions while the other 50 percent continue to fight to protect their comrades.
This observation offers profound insight: good positions do not guarantee victory; rather, it is good moves that lead to success. Many of our great Indian Chess Grandmasters exemplify this principle to the world.
Moving in the Right Direction
If you observe silently, without the interference of choice, you will begin to discern the processes of ignorance and fear. When the mind recognizes that it is generating its own ignorance—and consequently its own fear—this marks the beginning of choice-less awareness.
Through silent observation and deep discernment, where there is no choice and thus no conflict, ignorance begins to dissipate.
This transformation cannot be achieved through denial or mere rationalization; it represents the true process of awakening intelligence and intuition.
Change is possible at any age when you seize the opportunity to envision a future filled with peace and free from regrets.
With the right attitude and mindset, everything becomes possible. In Sankhya philosophy, consciousness and matter are distinct entities; however, they can hold the same information.
Information exists in consciousness as experience and in matter as objectified symbols representing that conscious state. When consciousness understands material objects, it possesses information that previously existed in matter.
