Netflix’s first Indian original series Sacred Games has been truly a game-changer for Indian TV. A series which leaves you in a state of dark melancholy. Indian audiences have always shown great love and loyalty towards Western series but Sacred Games has shifted their focus back on Indian shows.
Apart from the ground-breaking series that this has been, viewers have been fascinated by the titles of the 8 episodes. We at Read Scoops will try to explain the meaning and its subsequent connection behind each title and the episode!
Episode 1: Ashwatthama
Meaning: A mighty Maharathi from Mahabharata who fought against the Pandavas. At the end of the war, he was cursed with immortality for a total of 3000 years, the curse being suffering from incurable diseases that won’t heal for 300 years. Immortality at a bloody price!!
Connection: Gaitonde brags how he cheated death on many occasions, how he suffered and faced relentless attacks but still survived. He thinks of himself as a God too. Even after his death, his story continues hence the name Ashwatthama.
Episode 2: Halahala
Meaning: As per Hindu mythology, Halahala is the poison created from the sea when Gods and Demons churned it to obtain Amrita, the nectar of immortality. This poison was consumed by Shiva to save everyone else from dying.
Episode 3: Aatapi Vatapi
Meaning: Two demon brothers, Vatapi would transform into a goat while Aatapi would invite innocent travellers for food and feed them the goat meat. Once the travellers left, Vatapi would burst open from their stomachs killing them instantly.
Connection: Showing affection to people and then hurting them for personal gains is the common principle of the Underworld. Everyone from the cops to the criminals use this strategy on the show and probably it holds true in our real world too.
Episode 4: Brahmahatya
Meaning: Literally means ‘killing of a Brahman’.
Connection: Gaitonde, who’s a born Brahman, commits numerous crimes which are against the Brahman principles: consuming non-vegetarian food, killing innocent Muslims, murdering his own mother being the worst of all. He truly kills his Brahman self!
Episode 5: Sarama
Meaning: Known as the female dog of the gods. She helps Indra to recover divine cows stolen by demons.
Connection: Everyone in the show is like a dog, just following orders from a higher authority. Inspector Sartaj has to lie about a case, bowing down to his boss’s pressure in order to save his job. Sartaj is helpless in delivering justice to the innocent youth killed by his boss.
Episode 6: Pretakalpa
Meaning: In Garuda Purana, Preta-Kalpa talks about the cycle of life, death and beyond.
Connection: Katekar dies in this episode while Sartaj avenges his death by killing the culprit. Sartaj shows no mercy this time hence proving that Katekar’s death has turned him into something new.
Episode 7: Rudra
Meaning: In Rigveda, Rudra is known as the ‘mightiest of the mighty’. Also known as The Roaring God of Hunt, Storm, Terror, Death and Destruction.
Episode 8: Yayati
Meaning: Yayati was a king who had conquered the whole world but was cursed by a sage to old age in the prime of his life. He was allowed to exchange his old age but at a price. He’s known as the father who exchanged his old age with the youth of his son.
Connection: Gaitonde is put in jail and subjected to extreme torture at the hands of the corrupt policemen. In this final episode Guruji finally convinces Gaitonde to join his cause and frees him from the jail. This is where Gaitonde finds his father-figure and has to pay the ultimate sacrifice.
