Episode 1 of Chanakya Hindi TV Serial On DVD | A Personal Review

ॐ असतोमा सद्गमय ।
तमसोमा ज्योतिर् गमय ।
मृत्योर्मामृतं गमय
means,
From ignorance, lead me to truth;
From darkness, lead me to light;
From death, lead me to immortality.

With these lines the serials starts followed by the Shanti Mantra (the Shanti Sukta – the prayer for the peace). The heart of the message the maker wants to convey is reflected in these lines itself. The main content starts with the brief of the history, so we can easily visualize the whereabouts of the incidents.

• Magadh was one of the most remarkable kingdom in ancient India.
• It was the place where the monkeys were sent to search for Sitaji in Ramayana era.
• It was the place attacked by Pandu to save people from terror of its king, in the Mahabharat time.
• Jarasangh was the king of Magadh (in the time of Mahabharat) and Girivraj was the capitol of the kingdom. Who was later killed by Bheem.
• Vipunjay was the last descendent of Jarasangh who ruled Magadh. He was assassinated by Vasunik – his own minister. Vasunik’s son was the next king.
• After five generations, Shisunag took over in 648 BC to the throne of Magadh.
• It was Bimbisar who took over around 528 BC as the ruler, when Magadh’s great time started. He was a good ruler who expanded the kingdom’s boundaries as well. His son Ajatshatru was equally capable and ruled with his remarkable abilities.
• Around the same time, Mahavir and Buddha spread the message of peace and awakening to get out the people from their orthodoxy. Magadh played a vital role in the same.
• Ajatshatru built a fort for the next fight to a place called Pataliputra at the bank of Ganga (Ganges). It was Gautam Buddha who prophesied that there will be a magnificent city here but it will be vulnerable to fire, flood and internal feuds, always. The city of Pataliputra then became the capital of Magadh in the time of Udayan (Ajatshatru’s son).
• Later on MahaPadmaNand – the first king of Nand dynasty was throned to Pataliputra and he established a massive empire.
• The same kingdom was later came under the rule of DhanaNand – the last of Nand dynasty.

The incidents belongs to the time of DhanNand.

A lady was wandering into the street of Pataliputra (PatliPutra), the capital of Magadh. When she saw the chariot of Vakranas, the Maha Amatya of Dhananand passing, she followed him. She ask him about his missing son Angad. Angad was the chariot driver of king DhanNand himself. He was missing since few days and no one was answering her about his existence. She pleas to Vakranas that as being the Maha Amatya of king, he must have the idea about the same. However Vakranas neither stopped, nor cared to answer her pleas anyway. She collapsed on the ground by praying that please help me, please help me.

A Brahmin youth passing by, came and supports her to stand on to her feet and tells the ultimate truth that “No one helps weak people“. and advises her to go home. Very true indeed. If you want the change, you have to be. If you request someone as being weak, no one will care helping you. If you are not capable enough to be useful to others, why they care helping you? What is their benefit or personal interest in helping you then?! This is bizarre and disappointing but truth anyway.

There are lakhs of gold coins smuggled from the treasury of Magadh. It was DhanNand and his men who theft the same! Well, it was the wealth of Magadh, not the personal property of DhanNand. Sure, he was the king of Magadh, but he is just an administrator of the kingdom. The wealth was the tax paid by the citizens of Magadh, and it belongs to them. DhanNand used the services of some servents including Angad to transfer the gold coins to an unknown place where got them buring in the earth. Later in order to remove the evidences he got all those man killed by firing the cart they were coming by. So Angad was dead!

Magadh was celebrating Holi, the festival of colors. Milind concerned by the missing of Angad and others. He tried raising the question to the king himself. However king shuts his mouth by telling him to be within the boundaries. King then asked Vakranas to inform and teach Milind his limits. Milind then goes to Shaktar. We see that a man kept eye on Milind. Milind asked Shaktar about the incidents and Shaktar thought that now he have to take the matter in his very hand. At the midnight Shaktar meets Shishupal (his spy) at a strange place. Shishupal tells Shaktar the truth and also informs him that it could be their last meeting as his life is in danger for knowing such bizarre truths.

What Shaktar will do after knowing the facts? Will he be able to get any answers from DhanNand, Vakranas and others? Will the citizens of Magadh get out of this dark events anytime soon? To know the course of events you need to watch the episode. The sets are remarkably authentic. In stead of showing something larger than the life, based on fantasy, Dr. Dwiwedi kept the realities in front. And it pays off well. The background music is an aid. Act of some characters like Milind is not upto the mark but others, like Pramod Moutho and others well able to show their impact. The chariots and other stuff is also realistic. Overall an authentic revisit to the past.