The Mahabharata refers to the Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu, the first three born of the first wife, Kunti, and the last two born of the second wife, Madri
The Mahabharata refers to the Pandavas, the five sons of Pandu, the first three born of the first wife, Kunti, and the last two born of the second wife, Madri. But the limelight is hogged by the Kautaneyas (sons of Kunti) and the Madreyas (sons of Madri) recede to the background. One wonders if this was just an oversight by the author or a design to show something deeper. We are constantly told that Kunti loves the Madreyas as much as she loves Kaunteneyas, but one wonders. Is this a display of excessive love to hide the underlying rage; 
After all Madri was the favourite wife. But one can only speculate. For all the love, one must not forget that the first brother to be gambled away by Yudhishtira is not a son of Kunti but a son of Madri. Clearly they were more disposable than others.
Not much is known about Nakula, except that he was very handsome. So handsome that when he left the gambling hall and made his way to the forest, he smeared his face with dust so that women would not follow him. In folk traditions, he is said to know the language of birds. In other words, he speaks less to humans and more to animals. One wonders if the author was trying to tell everyone that Nakula was the dumb and beautiful brother.
Nakula is also associated with horses. He is the horse groom who in the final year of exile has to seek employment as a servant in the court of Virata. His twin brother, Sahadeva, is a cowherd then.
Sahadeva is also dumb but in folk traditions from South and East India, there is an elaborate reason for this. One day, Sahadeva gets the gift of prophecy. He is able to see the future. But Krishna stops him sharing what he sees with the rest of the world. "Answer only when asked," he is told. No one asks him anything and so he answers nothing.
Sahadeva is a patron of astrologers in the South. Most astrologers and fortune tellers have the habit of looking into the future and then asking the client, "Tell me what you want to know" and only then revealing their vision. This practice is said to have been laid down by Sahadeva.
Of the Vedic gods that the wives of Pandu invoke to bear him sons, the gods invoked by Madri are the most peculiar. They are the Ashwin twins and they are outcaste gods in the Vedic pantheon, included much later along with the 12 Adityas (first of whom was Indra), the eight Vasus, the 11 Rudras, to make up 33 (from where comes the phrase 33 crore gods of Hinduism). Indra, at first, refuses to share the Soma mead with them until kindly rishis like Chyavana and Dadichi offer it to them in defiance of Indra.
Nakula and Sahadeva seem to get the same treatment from the more important Pandavas. They have no dialogue. They aren't part of any major event. But they do play a key role in the transformation of Yudhishtira. For if Nakula is the first to be gambled, Nakula is also the first to be saved by Yudhishtira when the Yaksha in the forest lake kills the remaining Pandavas and agrees to resurrect only one.
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Devdutt Pattanaik is a Mumbai-based mythologist who makes sacred stories, symbols and rituals relevant to modern times.
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