Pandava


The Pandavas is a patronymic referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata. They are acknowledged as the sons of Pandu, the King of Kuru, but were fathered by different Devas due to Pandu's cursed inability to naturally sire children. In the epic, the Pandavas married Draupadi, the princess of Panchala, and founded the city of Indraprastha after the Kuru Kingdom was split to avoid succession disputes. After the split, the other part of the kingdom was ruled by their cousins, the Kauravas. However, the Pandavas lost their kingdom to Duryodhana when Yudhishthira gambled it away during a game of dice. The bet Yudhishtira agreed to was that the Pandavas would hand the kingdom over to the Kauravas and go into exile for 12 followed by an year in hiding. After this time the Kauravas refused to return the kingdom. As a result, the Pandavas waged a civil war against their extended family, and this conflict is known as the Kurukshetra War. With the help of the god Krishna, the Pandavas eventually won the war with the death of the Kauravas, albeit at great cost.

Etymology

The word Pandava is derived from Pandu and means "descendants of Pandu". Other epithets given to the Pandavas are:
  • Pāṇḍuputra – sons of Pandu
  • Pāṇḍavakumāra – young Pandavas
  • Kaunteya – sons of Kunti.
  • Mādreya – sons of Madri

    Description of the Pandavas

The Pandava brothers had a polygamous marriage to Draupadi. In Section 268 of Vana Parva of the epic, Draupadi describes the Pandavas to Jayadratha after he abducted her and the Pandavas are in pursuit.
  • Yudhishthira was slender, and had a prominent nose, large eyes and a complexion like that of "pure gold". He is also described as a just man, who had correct knowledge of the morality of his own acts and was merciful to surrendering foes.
  • Bheema is described being fair-golden complexioned, plump, long-armed and tall as a full-grown Sala tree. He is also extolled to be strong, well-trained, endued with great might and his superhuman feats had earned him great renown. In a display of ferocity, he bit his lips, and contracted his forehead to bring the two eyebrows together. Bheema is also described to be frightful, who never forgot a foe and was not pacified even after he wreaked his vengeance.
  • Arjuna is described as being dark complexioned, extremely handsome and praised as the greatest of archers, intelligent, second to none "with senses under complete control." Neither lust nor fear nor anger could make him forsake virtue. Though capable of withstanding any foe, he would never commit an act of cruelty.
  • Nakula was considered by Draupadi as "the most handsome person in the whole world." An accomplished master swordsman, he was also "versed in every question of morality and profit" and "endued with high wisdom." He was unflinchingly devoted to his brothers, who in turn regarded him as more valuable than their own lives.
  • Sahadeva was heroic, intelligent, wise and no other man was equal unto him in intelligence or in eloquence amid assemblies of the wise. He was the one dearest to Kunti, and intent on doing what is agreeable to Yudhishthira. He is also praised to be always mindful of the duties of Kshatriyas, and would sacrifice his own life than say anything that is opposed to morals.

    Legend

Birth and parentage

According to the Adi Parva of the epic, Pandu was crowned as the king of the Kuru kingdom despite being younger than his elder brother Dhritrashtra, who was denied the throne for being blind. He married Kunti, a princess of the Yadu clan, and Madri, the princess of Madra Kingdom. Once he was hunting in a forest when he shot a copulating pair of deer. However, they turn out to be a sage named Kindama and his wife, who had used their divine powers to take the form of the animals. Enraged, Kindama berated the king for having killed him before he had finished the act of mating and before dying, he cursed Pandu that he would die the moment he touched his wife intending to make love. After the event Pandu voluntarily renounced royal life as penance, leaving the Kingdom under Dhritarashtra. Kunti and Madri accompanied Pandu and together they lived in a forest.
Before her marriage, Kunti was blessed with a boon by the sage Durvasa, that she could have a son by any god whom she respects without having any marital affair. After Pandu learned of this, he asked her to perform Niyoga and bear him sons using the boon. The first three of the Pandavas were the sons of Kunti, while the younger two were born to Madri after Kunti shared her mantra with her at Pandu's request. The divine fathers of the Pandavas were:
A few years later after the birth of the Pandavas, Pandu died after trying to have a union with Madri and the latter immolated herself out of remorse. Kunti brought the Pandavas back to Hastinapura, the capital of Kuru, and they were raised together with their cousins, the Kauravas, who were the hundred sons of Dhritrashtra. The Pandavas were guided and taught by Bheeshma, Vidura and Kripa.
Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, refused to accept the Pandavas as his cousins. This usually led to much tension between the cousins. Insecure and jealous, Duryodhana harbored an intense hatred for the five brothers throughout his childhood and youth and following the advice of his maternal uncle Shakuni, often plotted to get rid of them to clear his path to the lordship of the Kuru Dynasty.
This plotting took a grave turn when Dhritarashtra had to relent to the will of the masses and rightfully appointed his nephew Yudhishthira as crown prince. This went against the personal ambitions of both father and son and drove Duryodhana into such a rage that he enthusiastically agreed to an evil ploy by Shakuni to murder Yudhishthira. Shakuni commissioned the construction of a palace in Varnavart, secretly built by incorporating flammable materials like oil, ghee etc. into the structure, most notably the lacquer known as lac. This palace was known as Lakshagraha. Duryodhana then successfully lobbied Dhritarashtra to send Yudhishthira to represent the royal household in Varnavarta during the celebrations of Shiva Mahotsava. The plan was to set the palace on fire during the night while Yudhishthira would likely be asleep. Yudhishthira left for Varnavrata, accompanied by his four brothers and their mother Kunti. The plan was discovered by their paternal uncle Vidura, who was very loyal to them and an extraordinarily wise man. In addition, Yudhishthira had been forewarned about this plot by a hermit who came to him and spoke of an imminent disaster. Vidura arranged for a tunnel to be secretly built for the Pandavas to safely escape the palace as it was set afire.

Marriages and children

The Pandavas had polyandrous marriage with Draupadi, the princess of Panchala Kingdom who was prophesied to bring the end of the Kauravas. The Adi Parva narrates that after their flight from the palace, the five brothers lived in the forests for some time disguised as Brahmins. They heard from a group of travelling sages about a contest being held in the Kingdom of Panchala that offered Draupadi's hand in marriage to the winner. The Svayamvara turned out to rely on the skills of archery, and Arjuna, who was a peerless archer, entered the competition and won. When the brothers took Draupadi to introduce her to their mother, they jokingly announced to Kunti that they had arrived with excellent alms. Kunti was busy with some work and replied without turning to look at Draupadi ordering the brothers to share the alms equally amongst the five of them. Even when uttered erroneously, their mother's word was supreme for the Pandavas, and they agreed to share the princess, who was subsequently married to all five brothers. To prevent jealousy among the brothers and identify the paternity of Draupadi's children, the Pandavas followed a condition in which one brother was given a year with her and others were forbidden to enter her chamber. If the condition was violated, the brother, who entered the room, had to go on a pilgrimage for 1 year. Arjuna was the only one to violate this condition.
Each Pandava had a son with Draupadi and they were collectively referred to as Draupadeyas; their names were Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Shrutakarma, Shatanika, and Shrutasena.
Besides Draupadi, each Pandava had their own wife with whom they had a son:
  • Yudhishthira was also married to Devika, the daughter of the king of the Sivi Kingdom, and had a son named Yaudheya.
  • Bheema had two other wives—the Rakshasi Hidimbi and Valandhara, a princess of the Kingdom of Kashi. Hidimbi was the mother of Ghatotkacha, while Savarga was the son of Valandhara.
  • Arjuna had three other wives—Uloopi, a Naga woman with whom he had Iravan; Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur, who became the mother of Babhruvahana; and Subhadra, the sister of Krishna and the mother of Abhimanyu.
  • Nakula had a wife named Karenumati, daughter of king of Chedi, and had a son named Niramitra.
  • Sahadeva was married to Vijaya, princess of Madra, and had a son named Suhotra.
Later in the Ashramvasika Parva, the character Sanjaya mentions two other wives of the Pandavasa sister of Chedi king Shishupala who is the wife of Bhima and as the daughter of king Jarasandha of Magadha who is the wife of Sahadeva. Simon Brodbeck theorizes that these marriages might have taken place after the Kurukshetra War, as these unnamed wives not mentioned elsewhere.