Sahadeva is a word derived from 2 Sanskrit words, ‘Saha’ (meaning with) and’Deva’ (meaning deity), in Hinduism. Hence the name Sahadeva means – with the Gods. Sahadeva also means –thousand Gods.
Sahadeva is the youngest of the five Pandava brothers, according to the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. Rishi Kindama had cursed Pandu due to which he was not able to bear children. To get around this curse, the boon given by Sage Durvasa was used by Madri to beget Sahadeva and Nakula by invoking the Ashwini Kumaras. Nakula and Sahadeva were born from the Ashvins and hence were called as Ashvineya. Vijaya and Draupadi were the two wives of Sahadeva. Sahadeva’s beloved wife was Vijaya. The Pandavas had a common wife, Draupadi.
Another belief is that Sahadeva was the incarnation of Shukra the guru of the Asuras. He excelled in wielding the sword, axe fighting and fencing on moving to Hastinapura with his brothers. Sahadeva learned the Nitishastra from Brihaspati, the Guru of Devas. Sahadeva is known to be virtuous, mild mannered, patient and bashful.
Draupadi, the wife of the Pandava brothers bore a son for each of them. Srutasen was Sahadeva’s son with Draupadi. Sahadeva’s other wife Vijaya bore for him a son named Suhotra.
After Shalya, Nakula became the king of Northern Madra Kingdom, while Sahadeva became the king of Southern Madra Kingdom. After being crowned as Emperor of Indraprastha, the eldest of the Pandavas Ydhishthira chose and sent Sahadeva to go south for his sword-fighting skills. This was because it was learnt that the Southerners were skillful in sword-fighting. Accordingly Sahadeva conquered many kingdoms to the South of Indraprastha, including the Pandyan Dynasty, Surasenas, the Patacharas, Matsyas, Nishadas, Mahismati City and many more territories.
