Sahadeva (Sanskrit: सहदेव, sahadéva) was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. He was one of the twin sons of Madri, who invoked Ashvins using a mantra shared by Kunti for a son. His twin brother was named Nakula. As soon as Nakula and Sahadeva were born, an incorporeal voice said, ‘In energy and beauty these twins shall transcend even the twin Aswins themselves.’
When four of the Pandava brothers died by drinking poisoned water in the forest, a voice appeared to Yudhistira telling him to only choose one brother to return from the dead. Yudhistira chose Sahadeva, as he was the son of Madri, and Yudhistira wanted to be fair to both mothers.
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All the five Pandava brothers were wed concurrently to Draupadi, and each had a son by her. Sahadeva's son begotten upon Draupadi was named Srutasena, as the baby was born under the constellation of the fire-god (constellation of Krittika) like Kartikeya, the generalissimo of the army of Devas (Ref: Mbh 1.223). Sahadeva also married Vijaya, the daughter of Dyutimat, the king of Madra, obtaining her in a self-choice ceremony and begot upon her a son named Suhotra (MBh 1.95). He was married to Magadha King Jarasandha's granddaughter (Mbh 15.1). Jarasandha's son's name was also Sahadeva.
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 the Kurukshetra War. Sahadeva was one of the Pandava-generals in Kurukshetra War, under the generalissimo Dhristadyumna. Among other prominent war-heroes killed by Sahadeva, includes, Rukmaratha (Mbh.8.5), the son of Shalya, who was very dear to Sahadeva, since Shalya was the maternal uncle of Sahadeva.
Like his brother Nakula, Sahadeva became an expert swordsman under the guidance of Kuru preceptor Drona. His expertise in the use of sword, could be the reason, why his elder brother, Yudhisthira the king, chose him as the general for the military expedition to southern kingdoms. Southern kingdoms were generally considered as having expertise in the use of swords rather than in the use of bows and arrows (Ref: Mahabharata: 12, 100). In Mahabharata a chapter (Mbh 2:30) is devoted to Sahadeva's expedition to southern kingdoms, to collect tributes from the kings, for king Yudhisthira's Rajasuya sacrifice. Sahadeva is a maharatha, i.e. one of the greatest of Generals. Sahadeva is mentioned as reaching as far south as Kerala and Lanka. The biggest battle mentioned in this expedition was his encounter with king Nila of Mahishmati. In this expedition he also battled with Surasenas, Matsyas, Kuntis, Avantis, kings in the banks of Narmada, Kosala kingdoms in the south, and rulers of Kishkindha. His messengers reached even Lanka.
Sahadeva was a great astrologer and was supposed to have known the events of the Mahabharata War beforehand 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. The Bhagavata Purana has a passage in which Sahadeva predicts events of future when asked by his elder brother Yudhisthira, the king.
Of the five Pandavas, Sahadeva was 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. It is also believed that Sahadeva was an incarnation of the great planet, Sukracharaya, the Asura Guru. It is therefore not surprising to note that he was one of the few contemporaneous persons living with Lord Krishna, like Bhishma and Vidura, to realise that Lord Krishna was the almighty Para Brahman Himself. Lord Sukra is considered smarter than Brishapathi, as He would always discover and identify Lord Sriman Narayana, even when the Lord was in disguise, as it is his duty to protect Asuras. The true greatness of Sahadeva lies in the fact that it was he who performed Agrapuja to Lord Krishna, declaring openly amongst Kings, in the face of opposition, that Lord Krishna, being Parabrahma Swarupi, deserves the first respect.
As per the Bhagavata Purana, he is one of the greatest devotees of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna once asked Sahadeva, what should be done to stop the war. Sahadeva told him that Krishna must be tied down and imprisoned and all the Pandavas along with Duryodhana must be sent to forest and Karna must be made the king. When Krishna challenged him to tie him down, Sahadeva started meditating and envisioned Krishna as a small baby and tied him down. Since Krishna could not move out of his bondage created by Sahadeva in his meditative trance, he blessed him with divine vision and Sahadeva released Krishna from the bondage.
At the time of Mahabharata War, both the sides were trying to give sacrifice to Goddess Durga seeking success. Duryodhana sought the most auspicious time from Sahadeva for performing the sacrifice. It is believed, in Hindu school of thought, that the time of sacrifice, denotes the commencement of war and thus decides the very outcome of the great war. Sahadeva advised him to perform the sacrifice on the new moon day to ensure success in war. When questioned by his brothers and Lord Krishna, Sahadeva gave the polite reply that he is ready to die doing his swadharama of being an astrologer. Probably, he was following the teaching of Lord Krishna even before the Bhagavad Gita was given out. Lord Krishna was supposed to have played a trick on the Sun and Moon gods to create the Bodhayana Amavasya which occurs one day earlier than the regulation Amavasya. The Pandavas performed the sacrifice on Bodhayana Amavasya day and obtained the boon of success from Goddess Durga.
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