A black screen opens with a disclaimer: ‘The serial attempts to explain the concepts of the Upanishads and depicts the philosophy of the Vedic culture’. The screen fades and characters come to life spreading messages about life’s journey, knowledge transformation, universal welfare, source of Dharma and more.
This is Upanishad Ganga, a visually captivating series that vividly depicts our upanishads’ age-old wisdom. Released in Hindi in Doordarshan in 2012 by the Chinmaya Mission, a spiritual and charitable organisation, the series is created by Chinmaya creations. “It (the series) is basically the teachings from scriptures and Upanishads. For us to read and understand them is not possible so the writings are being presented in the form of a story,” points out Vijayshree Raju, chief operating officer and a sevak at Chinmaya Mission.
The 52-episode series was later released on YouTube and has crossed a million views. According to Vijayshree, these stories are well received and appreciated by people from all walks of life. “From students to senior citizens, you will find everyone is able to correlate the stories,” she adds.
Almost 13 years after the release, the series is still imparting “wisdom, peace and purpose to humankind. They are the blueprint of human consciousness,” remarks Swami Swaroopananda, the global head of Chinmaya Mission.
Concurring, Vijayashree adds, “It (Upanishads) is relevant today, because this knowledge is old but new and it is meant for you. The 16 sanskar do not change, how to lead a dharmic life does not change; so it is relevant even today. It depends on us how we receive it.” Hence, Chinmaya creations is translating the original scriptures in four regional languages — Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam — and English. The videos will be released on their YouTube channel today. Gopal Srinivasan, chairman and trustee of Sanathana Seva Foundation, spearheaded the translation and dubbing initiative, with extensive support from Wisdom Tree Productions to bring it to fruition.
It took the team two years to translate the scripts and shoot videos. An average of 10 to 12 actors per episode play their parts. All this collaborative effort is to spread the vision of Chinmaya Mission. “The founder of the mission, Swami Chinmayananda, brought the Bhagavad Gita from our puja room to the drawing room because it is not something which has to be kept in the puja room and offered puja, we have to read those. We have to apply those teachings from our scriptures in a day-to-day life,” concludes Vijayshree.