[Advaita-l] NAKULA & SAHADEVA

[KAMESWARARAO MULA]

Dear Members,
                          Nakula & Sahadeva are the twin sons of  Pandu and Madri and blessed by the god twins aswinikumara’s. both were famous for their good looks. Nakul was sent to the west to subjugate kingdoms. It is said that Nakul had bought along so much gold and coins after subjugating kingdoms that Yudhisthira was compelled to distribute among his subjects. Every resident at that time was way richer than the richest in other kingdoms.Nakul made a mark in the war by killing Karna's two sons who were extremely loyal and efficient kauravas. Nakul was an expert in ayurveda.

It was said that Nakula, remembering his years of exile would “vomit the poison of his wrath like an angry snake, down their very lives” and Dhrtarastra would regret going to war. During one battle Nakula and Sahadeva, “endued with great effulgence, became the protectors of Bhima’s wheels” and Nakula faced many antagonists  including Dussasana, his uncle ruler of the Madras, Bhishma, Drona, Duryodhana, Karna and the warriors of Alayudha. After a long period of rule, Nakula accompanied his brothers in their journey towards the sacred mountain Meru, located in the north. The Pandavas entered a yogic state and like his brothers Sahadeva, Arjuna and Bhima, Nakula too fell to the ground . Despite Nakula’s many virtues and dharmic actions, he falls from his yogic state because he “thought that there was nobody that equaled him in beauty of person” and “what has been ordained for a person, must have to be endured by him”. In other words Nakula’s attitude towards himself as being the most beautiful was un-dharmic and as a consequence he was not accepted into heaven as was his dharmic brother Yudhisthira.

Sahadeva: He was expert with swords, After Yudhisthira was crowned the king of Indraprasth, Sahadeva was sent to the south of india to capture subjugate kingdoms. The warriors in South were particularly good with swords.Some of the kindgoms which he subjugated were Matsya, Vibhishana(Ravana's brother), Surasena, Nishadas, Purava, etc. He took an oath after the gambling loss of killing Shakuni and he does it at the 17th day of Mahabharata. He also killed many prominent swordsmen like Rukhmaratha. He is considered the Master of Astrology.

After years of Celibacy and meditation in the forest, Pandu once said to all of his kids that when he died they should eat his flesh. By doing so they would be blessed with great knowledge. But when pandu died none of his son had the courage to do so. But Sahadeva saw some ants taking a piece of flesh from his fathers' body. He put that piece in his mouth and eventually got powers which he could never have imagined. He saw what all had happened(about kuru and yadava's, Bhishma's vow and everything that was past) and also about future(gambling loss, mahabharta war, etc).He met his cousin Krishna who made him vow to never speak of anything he knows. If anybody would ask a question he would always reply with a question itself. As he knew what all was about to happen, he used occult sciences to show people how a small ripple leads to a disastrous or a good result. He learnt everything about planets and stars and thus predicted how certain aligning of planets or sun or moon or stars can change fortunes.


Sri Guru Padaravindarpana Mastu
Kameswra