Sahadeva
Sahadeva was the youngest of the five Pāṇḍavas. He and his twin brother Nakula were born to Mādrī through her call to the Aśvinī-kumāras, the twin Aśvins. Sahadeva was known for his wisdom, his knowledge of the stars and of omens, and his quiet discernment. He swore the oath to kill Śakuni, and he kept it on the eighteenth day of the war at Kurukṣetra.
Birth
Mādrī called the twin Aśvinī-kumāras, with the consent of Pāṇḍu. She used the mantra that Kuntī had shared with her. She called both Aśvins together in a single call, and twins were born at the same time. Sahadeva was the younger of the two.
The Aśvins’ own qualities of beauty, divine wisdom and speed were in both sons. In Sahadeva there was above all a deep, quiet knowledge.
Qualities and training
Sahadeva grew up with his brothers, first in the forests of the Himālaya and later in Hastināpura under the teaching of Droṇācārya. He was known for wisdom, for his knowledge of astrology and the reading of signs, and for his power of discernment. He was also known for loyalty and for holding back his words.
The oath at the departure from Hastināpura
In the Anudyūta Parva the second dice game sent the Pāṇḍavas into thirteen years of exile. Sahadeva was well known for his deep knowledge of omens and of what was to come. At the moment of departure he covered his face completely.
Sañjaya described him as covering his face with dust in anger, unable to look at those who had done this. Sahadeva swore the oath that would be kept at Kurukṣetra. He would kill Śakuni, the man whose loaded dice and cheating skill in akṣa-vidyā (the science of dice) had made the fall of the Pāṇḍava house possible. The oath was personal and exact. It was fulfilled on the eighteenth day of the war at Kurukṣetra.
Tantipāla in the Virāṭa Parva
In the thirteenth year of exile, Sahadeva took the disguise of Tantipāla, who was also called Ariṣṭanemi, a keeper of cattle. He served in the royal cattle herds of King Virāṭa. He knew cattle well, their care, their keeping and their qualities, and Virāṭa came to value him. Sahadeva kept his disguise faithfully through the whole year. He served beside his brothers and did not reveal who he was. (Chapter 11)
When the Pāṇḍavas’ true names were made known, Arjuna spoke to Virāṭa about Nakula and Sahadeva. He called them warriors with no equal in the human world in beauty, strength and character. He said they were the sons of Mādrī and the finest of the Bharata line. (Chapter 71)
At the funeral of Bhīṣma
Sahadeva and his twin Nakula held Bhīṣma’s crown and turban at the pitṛ-medha (funeral) rites at Kurukṣetra, after Bhīṣma’s great departure.
The Āśramavāsika Parva: his wish to see Kuntī, and the meeting
When Kuntī left for vānaprastha (the life of the forest), Sahadeva begged her to spare him her tenderness and stay.
Years passed, and the household at Hastināpura stayed sunk in grief at her absence. It was Sahadeva who first told Yudhiṣṭhira his heartfelt wish to see his mother again. He thought of her, once raised in every royal comfort and now wandering in the forest, worn out by tapas (austerity). Draupadī warmly agreed with him. Yudhiṣṭhira at once ordered the great company made ready for Kurukṣetra.
When the party came to the āśrama (hermitage) of Śatayūpa, Sahadeva ran ahead of his brothers and reached Kuntī first. He fell weeping at her feet. She raised him and held him, in tears, before the eyes of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Gāndhārī. (Chapters 16, 22, 24)
The Mahā Prasthānika Parva: his fall on the great departure
Sahadeva was learned in the śāstras (scriptures). With his brothers he gave up the world and went north on the great departure. He was the first of the brothers to fall after Draupadī. He sank to the earth beyond the Himavat.
Bhīma asked why. Yudhiṣṭhira answered that Sahadeva was humble and devoted, yet he had believed that no one equalled him in wisdom. This hidden pride in his learning was the fault that brought him down. (Chapters 1–2)
The Svargārohaṇa Parva: in the place of the Aśvins
Yudhiṣṭhira saw his kin restored to their divine places in svarga (heaven). He saw Sahadeva shining beside his twin Nakula in the place of the Aśvins. The Aśvins are the twin devas from whose single call by Mādrī the two youngest Pāṇḍavas were born. There the wise and discerning Sahadeva took his place among the Aśvinī-kumāras, his own source. (Chapter 4)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 122–125
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Anudyūta Parva, Chapter 78
- Mahābhārata, Virāṭa Parva, Chapters 1–72 (Chapter 11 and Chapter 71 cited above)
- Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 168
- Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 16, 22, 24
- Mahābhārata, Mahā Prasthānika Parva, Chapters 1–2
- Mahābhārata, Svargārohaṇa Parva, Chapter 4