Nakula

Nakula was the fourth of the five Pāṇḍavas and the elder of the twin sons of Mādrī, born when she called on the Aśvinī-kumāras. He was known above all for his great beauty, the most handsome of the Pāṇḍavas, and for his skill with horses and weapons. He and his twin Sahadeva were born at once when Mādrī, using the mantra (sacred formula) shared with her by Kuntī, called both the Aśvins in a single call.

Birth

Nakula was born from Mādrī’s call on the twin Aśvinī-kumāras, with Pāṇḍu’s consent. Mādrī used the mantra that Kuntī had shared with her. She chose to call both Aśvins together in one call, so twins were born at the same time. Nakula was the elder. Their birth was marked by divine signs. The Aśvins’ own qualities, beauty, skill in medicine, speed and the grace of divine horsemen, were shared between the two sons.

Of all the Pāṇḍavas, Nakula was the most beautiful in form.

Qualities and training

Nakula grew up with his brothers, first in the forests of the Himālaya. After Pāṇḍu’s death they returned to Hastināpura, and he was then taught by Droṇācārya. He was especially skilled in horsemanship and was thought the finest handler of horses among the Pāṇḍavas. He was also skilled with the sword. He was known for steady loyalty and gracious conduct.

The oath on leaving Hastināpura

In the Anudyūta Parva, the second dice game sentenced the Pāṇḍavas to thirteen years of exile. At the moment of leaving, Nakula was seen with his face wholly covered with dust and mud. Sañjaya reported this to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Nakula swore to kill the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra in battle, as his own share in the reckoning that was coming (Sabhā Parva, Anudyūta Parva, Chapter 78).

Granthika in the Virāṭa Parva

In the thirteenth year of exile, Nakula took the disguise of Granthika, a keeper and trainer of horses, and entered the service of King Virāṭa of Matsya. His great knowledge of horses came from his Aśvin parentage and had grown through years of royal training in horsemanship. It made him of great value in the royal stables. He hid his name and family through the whole year. He kept the rule of conduct, the samayapālana, required of the ajñātavāsa (the year of living unknown) (Virāṭa Parva, Chapter 10).

Suśarman captured Virāṭa in the southern cattle raid. Nakula joined the battle that freed the king, fighting beside Yudhiṣṭhira and Bhīma. When the Pāṇḍavas’ identities were revealed, Arjuna described Nakula and Sahadeva to Virāṭa in these words: “These two in service here, the horse-keeper and the cattle-keeper, these great warriors are the sons of Mādrī. No one in all the human world equals them in beauty, strength or character. Finest of the Bharata line” (Virāṭa Parva, Chapter 71).

The question about the sword

In the Śānti Parva (Āpaddharma Parva), Chapter 166, Nakula asks Bhīṣma the question that leads to the Khaḍgotpatti Kathanam, the account of the origin and handing down of the divine sword Asi. His question starts Bhīṣma’s long telling of how the sword began. Brahmā made it at a great yajña on Himavat and gave it to Rudra. It passed through Bhagavān Viṣṇu and a line of maharṣis and kings to the Pāṇḍavas themselves. It fits that Nakula, a warrior especially skilled with the sword, is the one who asks (Śānti Parva, Chapter 166).

At Bhīṣma’s funeral

Nakula, with his twin Sahadeva, held Bhīṣma’s crown and turban at the pitṛ-medha (funeral rites for the dead) at Kurukṣetra after the great departure (Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 168).

Grief and reunion in the Āśramavāsika Parva

Nakula was among the brothers who wept and could not turn Kuntī back from her decision to go with Dhṛtarāṣṭra into vānaprastha (forest life). Afterwards he was among those left behind at Hastināpura “like motherless calves”. He joined Yudhiṣṭhira’s great company to Kurukṣetra. He was present at the joyful reunion with Kuntī and Dhṛtarāṣṭra at the āśrama of Śatayūpa. There Sañjaya presented him, with his brothers, to the assembled tapasvins (ascetics) (Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 15–16, 21–24).

His fall on the great departure

Nakula joined his brothers in giving up the world and set out on the great departure toward the north. Beyond Himavat, as the travellers pressed on, this devoted and matchlessly handsome hero fell to the earth. Bhīma asked why one so blameless should fall. Yudhiṣṭhira answered that Nakula had been proud of his own beauty and believed that no one equalled him in good looks. This one fault kept him from finishing the climb in his body (Mahā Prasthānika Parva, Chapters 1–2).

In the station of the Aśvins

Yudhiṣṭhira saw his kin on their true divine thrones in svarga. He saw Nakula shining with his own tejas (radiance) in the station of the Aśvins, the twin physician devas whose call had brought about his birth to Mādrī. There, beside his twin Sahadeva, the handsomest of the Pāṇḍavas took his place among the Aśvinī-kumāras, his source (Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 4).

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 122–125
• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Anudyūta Parva, Chapter 78
• Mahābhārata, Virāṭa Parva, Chapters 1–72
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva (Āpaddharma Parva), Chapter 166
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 168
• Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 15–16, 21–24
• Mahābhārata, Mahā Prasthānika Parva, Chapters 1–2
• Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 4