Upanishad Ganga

Upanishad Ganga is a 2012 Indian television drama series based on the message in the Upanishads, directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi and produced by Chinmaya Mission (Chinmaya Creations). It started telecast from 11 March 2012 on DD National (DD1), has a total of 52 episodes based on the Upanishads highlighting the ideal thinking and empowerment provided by the Vedic society in India.^[1][2][3] The series was conceptualised by Swami Tejomayananda the global head of Chinmaya Mission,^[4] Dwiwedi is most known for his lead role in TV series, Chanakya (1991-1992), one of the cast is Abhimanyu Singh, who is playing 33 different roles in the series.^[5]

The music director of Upanishad Ganga is Alap Desai . He is a young singer-composer born in a family of artistes. After learning to play Tabla from the Late Ustad Alla Rakha Khan Saheb for about 8 years, he gradually shifted focus to music composition. His music traverses through various genres such as plays, dance ballets, albums and television serials. His compositions reflect the glory of semi classical music and the ambience of contemporary sounds. He has performed throughout the world and recorded with artistes like Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, Jagjit Singh, Shankar Mahadevan and has a number of albums to his name

Prior to its telecast the cast and director started a promotional tour across India to cities like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bhopal.^[2]

Plot

The serial-Drama revolves around the social lifestyles, customs and thinking from the Vedic Society and gives a touch of ethics which we should imply in our daily life. The program starts with an Upanishad-Chanting related to the topic of the drama and all the group of dramatists gathers for the chanting. The title song/verse of the serial is 15th verse of Ishopanishad-

हिरण्मयेन पात्रेण सत्यस्यापिहितं मुखम्। तत्त्वं पूषन्नपावृणु सत्य धर्माय दृष्टये॥

"Hiranmayena patrena satya-syapi-hitam mukham,

tattvam pusanna-pavrnu satya –dharmaya drstaye.(15)"

Meaning- "Truth lies concealed by golden vessel.

Do thou O Sun! Open the entrance of that cover

So as the Truth you so concealed be visible to me,

a devotee, who by nature is truthful,

in the light of your illuminating Grace."^[6]

The drama starts with the entry of a Sūtradhāra (Sanskrit:सूत्रधार, the anchor) and sometimes a Nați (Sanskrit:नटी, a lady narrator or Dramatist) who tell us about the drama for the day and explain us about the concept in short. The Sūtradhāra explains some other Vedic concepts to us while the drama continues. The drama ends up with another Upanishad-Chanting and all dramatists gather again.

Concept development

The Vedic Culture is introduced in the initial episodes (1-4). Then cultural values at the levels of the individual and the society are presented in the following 18 episodes (5-22). After, thus establishing the cultural basis and ethos, the entire Upanishadic Wisdom is then presented in the next 20 episodes (23–42). The practical steps that could be taken to actualize this wisdom in one's life are then elaborated in the next nine episodes (43–51). The last episode is an expression of gratefulness for this Wisdom which has made India proud, noble, and admired the world over.^[7]

Episodes

Episode 1 - The Journey ^[8] - Introduction to Upanishads

Episode 2 - Think - Who Am I, Ask! ^[9] - Story from Mahabharat

Episode 3 - Knowledge Transforms ^[10]- Story of Ratnakar/Valmiki

Episode 4 - Universal Welfare ^[11]- Story of Ashtavakra

Episode 5 - Veda - The Source of Dharma 1 ^[12]- Story of Dara Shikoh

Episode 6 - Veda - The Source of Dharma 2 ^[13]- Story of Dara Shikoh

Episode 7 - Vedanga ^[14]- Story of Bhaskaracharya

Episode 8 - Upaveda ^[15] - Story of Kacha (sage) - Devayani

Episode 9 - The Human Goal - Dharma ^[16]- Story of Raja Harishchandra

Episode 10 - The Human Goal - Artha ^[17]- Story of Chanakya and Chandragupta

Episode 11 - The Human Goal - Kama ^[18]- Story of Bhartrihari

Episode 12 - The Human Goal - Moksha ^[19]- Story of Kotikarna

Episode 13 - Student Life ^[20]- Story of Satyakam

Episode 14 - Married Life ^[21]- Story of Kavi Magha

Episode 15 - Retired Life ^[22]- Story of Bhima - Dhritrastra and Story of Bimbisara-Ajatshatru

Episode 16 - Renunciation 1 ^[23]- Story of Vidyaranya

Episode 17 - Renunciation 2 ^[24]- Story of Maharshi Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi

Episode 18 - Varna (The Universal Characterization) ^[25]- Story of Chanakya and Chandragupta

Episode 19 - Shodasha Samskara ^[26]- The 16 Milestones of Life 1 - By Soordas

Episode 20 - Shodasha Samskara ^[27]- The 16 Milestones of Life 2 - By Soordas

Episode 21 - Shodasha Samskara ^[28]- The 16 Milestones of Life 3 - By Soordas

Episode 22 - Theory of Karma & Rebirth ^[29] - Story of Chitraketu

Episode 23 - Glory of Human Birth ^[30]- Story of Tulsidas

Episode 24 - Adhikari - The Seeker of Knowledge ^[31]- Story of Ashoka and Story of Nachiketa

Episode 25 - Guru ^[32]- Story of Story of Pingala and 24 Gurus of Dattatreya Avadhoot

Episode 26 - Guru Upasadana - Seeking the Guru ^[33]- Story of Indra and Virochan

Episode 27 - The Quest ^[34] - Story of Yudhishthira and Yaksh

Episode 28 - Anatman - Not The Self ^[35]- Story of Krishna - Subhadra and Story of Yamraj - Savitri

Episode 29 - Atman - The True Self ^[36]- Story of Arunagirinathar

Episode 30 - The Existence Principle ^[37]- Story of Maharshi Yajnavalkya and Gargi

Episode 31 - Consciousness - The Life Principle - Story of Indra and Yaksha

Episode 32 - The Bliss

Episode 33 - Bondage - Story of Puranjan

Episode 34 - The Self & The Non-Self -Story of Jada-Bharat

Episode 35 - God

Episode 36 - Maya - The Power of The Lord - Story of Sage Narada

Episode 37 - God's Incarnations - Story of Veda-Vyas

Episode 38 - Devata - The Cosmic Deities - Story of Akbar-Birbal and Story of Namdev

Episode 39 - Om - The Sacred Syllable

Episode 40 - The Creation - Story of Varāhamihira

Episode 41 - God, Me & The World - Story of Prahalad

Episode 42 - The Three Realities - Story of Janaka - Ashtavakra and Story of Sage Ribhu - Nidagha

Episode 43 - Beyond hues, become the Lord's muse - Story of Meerabai

Episode 44 - Inborn Traits - Story of Mohan-Rajkumari and Story of Sant Eknath

Episode 45 - Preparatory Spiritual Practices - Story of Pundalik

Episode 46 - Advanced spiritual practices - Story of Khandikya and Keshidhvaja from Vishnu Purana

Episode 47 - The attitude when performing action, Karma Yoga

Episode 48 - The Yoga of Devotion, Bhakti Yoga - Story of Saint Bhadrachala Ramadas

Episode 49 - The Yoga of Knowledge, Gyan Yoga - Story of Sadasiva Brahmendra

Episode 50 - The great statements of Truth - Mahāvākyas -Story of Aruni and Shvetaketu, Janak and Śukadev

Episode 51 - Liberation - Story of Parvailla Swami

Episode 52 - Master-Disciple relation - An expression of gratitude

All the episodes of Upanishad Ganga are available on YouTube.

Cast

Actor	Character	Episode
Abhimanyu Singh	Narendra Sutradhar Krishna Aurangzeb	1, 2 2, 8, 9 2 5
Vishwa Badola	Gaurishankar	1, 2
Huma Qureshi	Pundalik's wife Nati Hussaini	45
Rushad Rana	Satyadharma
Jaya Bhattacharya	Ratnavali Jabala	3
Zakir Hussain	Ratnakar Dara Shikoh Yaksh	3 4, 5
Mukesh Tiwari	Harishchandra	9
Vrajesh Hirjee	Ashtavakra	4
Sai Deodhar	Devayani Gargi	8
Purva Parag	Shaivya	9
Ravi Khanvilkar	Shukracharya Vishwamitra	8 9
K K Raina	Baba Laldas Vishnugupta	5, 6
Sandeep Mohan	Ved Vyas Raja Janaka	4
Umang Gurjar	Satyakam Nachiketa Prahalad
Rasika Dugal	Nati Iravati - the wife of Varāhamihira
Auroshikha Dey	Meerabai Kayadhu - Mother of Prahalada Pingala
Gagan Malik	Varāhamihira	7
Faisal Rashid	Bhadrachala Ramadas Tulsidas Birbal
Usha Rana	Mother of Pundalik
Gyanesh Pandey	Giri Totakacharya
Dev Khubnani	Kacha Adi Shankaracharya	8
Amit Behl	Bhaskaracharya	7

References

External links

• Upanishad Ganga's channel on YouTube