This series has been telecast-ed many times on Doordarshan and is a must for any student of Indain History. It has a characteristic Shyam benegal style of concentrating on mental conflicts rather than showing war details or opulence of courts. Title song are a simple version of verses of Rigveda and anyone who keeps on branding Veda communal will have an idea of deep philosophy inherent in them by listening to these samples. Costumes of all the ages have been captured very efficiently and some of the episodes are my favorite like one on civil disobedience in 1930, quit India in 1942 , Shivaji one ( It is the only televised account of Shivaji in which his conflicts with local Hindu chieftains are shown). There were some episodes with more philosophical value rather than historical like one in which India law on parentage is illustrated by a boy being branded shudra though his mother was a vaisya, his biological father a Brahman and his adopted father was a kshatriya king or the one involving Ashoka's brother and how he turns to become a Buddhist monk. It is evident that more emphasis is placed on social and economic moorings. Now this may be depiction of Portuguese Mughal conflict for trade interests or an episode where small songs for each of six seasons were sung in traditional tones. Music of Vanraj Bhatia gave whole production cinematic value rather than being a mere documentary series.
