List of games that

Buddha would not

play
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The Buddhist games list is a list of games

that Gautama Buddha is reputed to have
said that he would not play and that his
disciples should likewise not play, because
he believed them to be a 'cause for
negligence'.[1] This list dates from the 6th
or 5th century BCE and is the earliest
known list of games.[2]

There is some debate about the

translation of some of the games
mentioned, and the list given here is based
on the translation by T. W. Rhys Davids of
the Brahmajāla Sutta and is in the same
order given in the original.[3] The list is
duplicated in a number of other early
Buddhist texts, including the Vinaya
Pitaka.[2] [4]

1. Games on boards with 8 or 10 rows.

This is thought to refer to ashtapada and
dasapada respectively, but later Sinhala
commentaries refer to these boards also
being used with games involving dice.[2]
2. The same games played on imaginary
boards. Akasam astapadam was an
ashtapada variant played with no board,
literally "astapadam played in the sky". A
correspondent in the American Chess
Bulletin identifies this as likely the earliest
literary mention of a blindfold chess
variant.[5]
3. Games of marking diagrams on the floor
such that the player can only walk on
certain places. This is described in the
Vinaya Pitaka as "having drawn a circle
with various lines on the ground, there they
play avoiding the line to be avoided". Rhys
Davids suggests that it may refer to
parihāra-patham, a form of hop-scotch.
4. Games where players either remove
pieces from a pile or add pieces to it, with
the loser being the one who causes the
heap to shake (similar to the modern
game pick-up sticks).
5. Games of throwing dice.
6. "Dipping the hand with the fingers
stretched out in lac, or red dye, or flour-
water, and striking the wet hand on the
ground or on a wall, calling out 'What shall
it be?' and showing the form required--
elephants, horses, &c."
7. Ball games.
8. Blowing through a pat-kulal, a toy pipe
made of leaves.
9. Ploughing with a toy plough.
10. Playing with toy windmills made from
palm leaves.
11. Playing with toy measures made from
palm leaves.
12. Playing with toy carts.
13. Playing with toy bows.
14. Guessing at letters traced with the
finger in the air or on a friend's back.
15. Guessing a friend's thoughts.
16. Imitating deformities.
Although the modern game of chess had
not been invented at the time the list was
made, earlier chess-like games such as
chaturaji may have existed. H.J.R. Murray
refers to Rhys Davids' 1899 translation,
noting that the 8×8 board game is most
likely ashtapada while the 10×10 game is
dasapada. He states that both are race
games.[6]

Occurrences in the Pali

Canon
The complete list is repeated several times
in the Digha Nikaya as part of a passage
called 'The Intermediate Section on Moral
Discipline' that details ways in which the
Buddha and his followers differ in their
practices from brahmins and other
ascetics.

Brahmajāla Sutta (DN 1)

Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2)
Ambaṭṭha Sutta (DN 3)
Soṇadaṇḍa Sutta (DN 4)
Kūṭadanta Sutta (DN 5)
Mahāli Sutta (DN 6)
Jāliya Sutta (DN 7)
Mahāsīhanāda Sutta (DN 8)
Subha Sutta (DN 10)
Kevaṭṭa Sutta (DN 11)
 Tevijja Sutta (DN 13)

The full list also occurs twice in the Vinaya

Pitaka, once in the Suttavibhanga as part
of the criteria for a rule entailing
suspension, and once in the Cullavaga as
part of a technical discussion regarding
the procedure for banishing monks from
an area.[4][7]

An abbreviated version also occurs in at

least two other sutras: the Upāli Sutta in
the Anguttara Nikaya and the
Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhaya Sutta in the Majjhima
Nikaya.[8] [9]

See also
 History of Buddhism
Timeline of chess
History of games
List of chess variants

References
1. Brahmajala Sutta, Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans.
2. A History of Chess, by Harold James
Ruthven Murray
3. Davids, T. W. Rhys (1899–1921).
Dialogues of the Buddha. Pali Text Society.
4. Bhikkhu Vibangha, Kuladūsaka
5. American Chess Bulletin, vol. 13-15,
Hartwig Cassell & Hermann Helms, eds.
6. Murray, H J R (1952). History of Board
Games Other Than Chess . Clarendon
Press. p. 35.
7. Kammakkhandhaka
8. Upāli Sutta
9. Mahātaṇhāsaṅkhaya Sutta

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