(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth, lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
Chinmaya Mission Creates a Hit TV Series
The 54-part Upanishad
Ganga offers a systematic presentation of key Hindu and Vedantic teachings
in an innovative retelling of ancient stories
WHEN SWAMI TEJOMAYANANDA DECIDED TO REACH THE MASSES THROUGH
A TV SHOW, he turned to director Chandraprakash Dwivedi, who wrote,
directed and starred in Chanakya, the popular 1990s series set in
ancient India. He then assigned a team of erudite Chinmaya Mission
acharyas—Swamini Vimalananda, Swami Advayananda and Brahmachari Samvid
Chaitanya—to guide the project.
Produced
at a cost of US$1.6 million, the resulting 54 episodes of Upanishad
Ganga (upanishadganga.com)
cover the gamut of Hindu philosophy. Episodes explore the Vedas, the
four goals of life, the four ashramas, 16 rites of passage, caste,
reincarnation, the guru, the Self, maya, types of spiritual practices and the
nature of ultimate liberation. It’s all based on a wide variety of stories—some
ancient, such as that of Pralad and Nachiketa, and some more recent, such as
that of Surdas, the 15th-century blind musician, and Harihara Raya and Bukka
Raya, founders in 1336 of the Vijayanagar Empire.
The Episodes
Most
stories start with a narrator and one or more characters on a theater stage
talking about the coming story. It’s an effective technique, one that is woven
throughout the series. This narrative prologue then pans to a nearby scene on
the stage and then suddenly to an actual location in a forest, city or village.
At a critical point the narrator may appear again on the stage, and then we are
shifted back to a location or full-fledged set. From time to time—in the style
of a Greek theater “chorus”—other characters appear in the scene with the
actors but do not interact with them. Rather they talk to each other or the
audience, offering insights into what is going on. Overall, it is a clever mix
of theater, cinema and television staging.
Our
reviewer watched half of the 54 episodes for this evaluation—and that having to
depend on the English subtitles, missing what has been reviewed by others as
the elegant Hindi dialogue.
Both
the series and the staging concepts are developed in the first episodes, in
which the son of a traditional pandit finds, contrary to his expectations, that
his career and aspirations in theater have much in common with his father’s
life. The second episode involves scenes from the end of the Mahabharata war.
It must be said that these two episodes are not the most engaging.
The
series finds its stride with the next episode, “Knowledge Transforms,” based on
the famed story of encounter of highway robber Ratnakar with Sage Narada. The
sage asks if the thief’s family—who know his occupation—were willing to share
in his karma of robbing and killing. Shocked to find out that none were, he
renounced the world, attained liberation and became the famed Sage Valmiki,
author of the Ramayana.
Episode
11, on the goal of kama, pleasure, is based on the story of King
Bhartrihari. He is living a self-indulgent life in the company of his wives and
the palace women when a brahmin offers him a magic mango which will allow
whoever eats it to stay young forever. He gives it to his favorite wife, who
gives it to her secret lover, who gives it to his mistress, and so on, until it
arrives in the hands of another of the king’s wives—who offers it to him,
catalyzing in him a rude awaking about the nature of human desire.
Some
episodes, such as 15, on the third ashrama of retired life, draw on stories
that are a bit of a stretch. In this case, it is that of King Dhritarashtra,
who lost the Mahabharata war. According to the episode, he is daily taunted by
the boasts of Bhima (of the victorious Pandavas) telling how he had personally
dispatched several of the king’s sons on the battlefield. To escape Bhima’s
taunts, the king understandably retires to the forest. One might think,
however, that entering the third ashrama should be brought about by a spiritual
desire to withdraw from the world, not to escape a determined tormentor.
Three
of the most entertaining sets of episodes are those on the 16 samskaras. These
utilize the devotional song by Surdas which tells of Lord Krishna receiving the
rites of passage—replete with Bollywood dance numbers.
The Production Team
Dwivedi,
54, the linchpin of the production, brings to it his considerable talent as a
director and actor along with his deep interest in history. The son of a
Sanskrit teacher, he was first educated as a doctor. Around 1990 he pursued his
interest in the performing arts, considering cinema but then choose television
instead. He is best known for Chanakya, for which he personally
researched the life and times of the 4th-century political theorist and author
of Artha Shastra. For Upanishad Ganga, he worked closely with the
Chinmaya Mission acharyas and co-writer Farid Khan in developing the script for
each episode. The actors include many of note: Abhimany Singh (who, besides narrating
the series, plays in several episodes), K. K. Raina, Zakir Hussain, Amit Behl,
Mukesh Tiwari, Jaya Bhattacharya, Huma Qureshi and Seema Azmi.
Evaluation and Recommendations
The
series perspective is that of Vedanta, drawing mostly on the Upanishads,
and to a lesser extent on the bhakti traditions. At times the expansive
discourse on deep topics can lose the viewer, as the actors try and inexorably
fail to explain the unexplainable mysteries of God and His creation.
Parents
are advised this is not a children’s series. Some of the scenes are very
rough—Bhima’s taunting of King Dhritarashtra, for one. Several episodes involve
learned scholars being killed after losing a debate, which might well raise
questions from today’s youth. Others would require explanations a parent might
not wish to get into—such as Saint Arunagirinathar spending much of his earlier
life in a brothel. Judicious previewing is called for in a home or class
situation.
Overall,
the series is highly professional, with excellent writing, staging, acting and
cinematography. It showed on Doordarshan in 2012-2013 and is now playing on the
international channel DD India. Available on YouTube in Hindi and on DVD from
amazon.com in Hindi with English subtitles. Highly recommended as a compellingly
visual way to introduce Indian philosophy and history to a new audience.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Sadguru Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
ji, Satguru Bodhianatha Velayanswami ji, Hinduism
Today and Articles writers for the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
)
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