Plot

King Bharat of Hastinapur, even after having nine sons, chooses a sage's son Bhumanyu as his successor. A few generations later, King Shantanu's reign weakens due to a promise made to his wife, Ganga.

Samay (Harish Bhimani) Mahabharat is not about the war between Kauravas and a Pandavas. It is the story of India's history. The war between good and evil. The war between darkness and light. Only time can tell this story as time has seen every character and lived it fully. Mahabharata is about relationships and how they conflict with duty. This tale repeats with every generation and time is endless. Hence every generation should listen to this story and learn from it to prepare for the future. The story didn't start with the Gita discourse by Krishna to Arjun.. or the day Draupadi insulted Duryodhan.. It started in the times of King Bharat: son of Dushyant and Shakuntala.

King Bharat (Raj Babbar) of hastinapur has conquered all lands that are today known as Bharat or India (after the great king). The kingdom spreads from the Himalayas to the oceans. Bharat meets Maharishi Karn who reared Bharat's mom Shakuntala. Bharat has a dilemma, he doesn't know which of his 9 sons to appoint his successor. Karn advises him to conquer his own instincts (the irony is that the man who conquered the known world could not conquer his own heart) and to do justice to his role as emperor. Bharat sows the seed of democratic thinking by appointing a commoner as his successor. Bharat doesn't not find king like qualities in his own sons, so appoints Bharadwaj putra as the Yuvraaj. Shakuntala admonishes Bharat for his decision, but Bharat says that he is not only a father, but also a King. He says nepotism would lead to anarchy in the Kingdom and the future King needs to earn the title with his deeds and not his birth.

However this democratic sapling died few generations later in the rule of King Shantanu. Shantanu meets Ganga at the banks of the river, and loves her from the very first moment. King Shantanu (Rishabh Shukla) risks the tradition when he marries Ganga (Kiran Juneja) and promising never to question her for anything she does. Shantanu is madly in love with Ganga and soon she is preggers. As she gives birth to a boy, Shantanu is ecstatic, but joy turns to gloom when Ganga drowns the new born baby into the river. Shantanu cannot question Ganga as per his promise.

Shantanu goes to Rajguru with his dilemma. Ganga has killed 2 of Shantanu's son, and his promise prevents him from asking why.. Rajguru admonishes Shantanu that as king he had no right to give such a blind promise. He also says that a king that cannot protect his own sons cant be expected to protect his people. Rajguru wants Shantanu to suffer, so future kings are aware not to make such promises again. Now 4 sons are gone. The Prime Minister also asks Shantanu to question Ganga about what the hell she is on about, having killed 4 of Shantanu's sons. He says she is a murderer and providing justice is Shantanu's job as king, as well as providing an heir to the Kingdom. Now 5th son is also gone..