Prativindhya
Prativindhya was the eldest of the five sons of Draupadī. She bore one son to each of her five Pāṇḍava husbands. Prativindhya was the son of Yudhiṣṭhira. The Mahābhārata describes him as steady like a mountain. With his four brothers he formed the group called the upapāṇḍavas (the “lesser Pāṇḍavas”). Aśvatthāmā killed all five in a night attack after the war at Kurukṣetra.
Birth
Prativindhya was born to Draupadī from her union with Yudhiṣṭhira. Draupadī’s five sons were born one a year, one from each husband in turn. As the son of Yudhiṣṭhira, Prativindhya was the eldest.
The upapāṇḍavas
Prativindhya and his four brothers were known together as the upapāṇḍavas. The brothers were:
- Sutasoma
- Śrutakarma
- Śatānīka
- Śrutasena
Arjuna trained them in dhanurveda (the science of archery) and astra-śāstra (the science of weapons), together with Abhimanyu. All of them were warriors of great skill.
Death in the Sauptika Parva
Aśvatthāmā killed all five upapāṇḍavas in his night attack on the camp of the Pāñcālas after the war at Kurukṣetra. The Sauptika Parva gives the death of each son in its own detail.
Prativindhya woke when the killing reached him. He took up his weapons and fought Aśvatthāmā. But Aśvatthāmā acted under the āveśa (the entering power) of Mahādeva, and ordinary resistance could not stop him. He drove his sword through Prativindhya’s belly. The eldest son of Draupadī fell first among the five.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 221
- Mahābhārata, Sauptika Parva, Chapter 8