'Sahadeva' (
Sanskrit: सहदेव, ''sahadéva'') is a character in the
Mahabharata. He is one of the sons of
Madri by
Pandu, who asks the
Ashvins for a son. He is one of the
Pandava brothers. He has a twin brother named
Nakula.
All the five
Pandava brothers were wed concurrently to
Draupadi, and each had a son by her.
During their incognito in the
Matsya kingdom of king
Virata, Sahadev was responsible for the cowshed and had taken a vow to kill the king of
Gandhara,
Shakuni who had tricked them all their life. He was successful in his vow in killing
Shakuni the second-last day of battle.
Of the five Pandavas, Sahadeva is the youngest. He is nevertheless referred to as the wisest of all of them. Yudhishtra even speaks of him as wiser than Brihaspati, the divine teacher of the devas.
Sahadeva is a great astrologer and is supposed to have known the events of the Mahabharata war aforehand but was cursed that if he disclosed the knowledge, his head would split in pieces. Hence, his relatively silent role in the epic compared to the other brothers.
Like his brother Nakula, Sahadeva is an expert swordsman. He was also married to Magadhan King Jarasandh's daughter and his brother-in-law's name was also Sahadev.
Reference
★ ''Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend'' (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola