Anyone who knows a little about the epic Mahabharata also knows about the Pandavas, or the five brothers of Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. They were the sons of King Pandu and his two wives, Kunti and Madri.
Each one of their sons was born with the blessing of a particular celestial deity, which gave the pandavas their respective godly characters and skills that made them so popular. For example, Bhima is famous for his insane, superhuman-like strength, while Arjuna is known for his unmatched archery skills.
However, despite having so much popularity and admiration among the masses for the pandavas, their sons certainly don’t get the same spotlight as their fathers.
Thus, in this article, we are going to list the entire family tree of pandavas in an effort to boost the awareness of the Upapandavas. Actually, the sons of pandavas are collectively called upapandavas, or the junior pandavas.
The Sons Of Pandavas
During the time when five Pandavas were living in the forest disguised as Brahmins, Arjuna took part in the swamber of Draupadi and won her in the competition. But the circumstances were created in such an unfortunate way that they all had to marry Draupadi and share her between them.
Meaning, all of the five brothers – Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva-were married to the same woman. As a result, each of them had a son from Draupadi.
They are Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Srutakirti, Satanika, and Srutakarman, respectively. Together, these five sons of Pandavas are also known as the Pandavaputras, or Draupadeyas.
| Pandavas | Sons From Draupadi | Sons From Other Wives |
| Yudhisthira | Prativindhya | Yaudheya |
| Bhima | Sutasoma | Ghatotkach, Sarvaga |
| Arjuna | Srutakarma | Iravan, Babhruvahana, Abhimanyu |
| Nakula | Shatanika | Niramitra |
| Sahadeva | Shrutasena | Suhotra |
The Sons Of Yudhisthira
In the epic Mahabharata, Yudhisthira had two wives: Draupadi and Devika. While you know of Draupadi as the empress of Indraprastha and the chief consort of all five pandavas, Devika, on the other hand, is not that well-known to the public.
Actually, Devika was the daughter of Govasana, the king of the Sivi kingdom. However, some other editions of the Mahabharata also mention the Sivi kingdom as the Saivya tribe. Yudhishthira married her by self-choice, and together they had a son named Yaudheya.
On the other hand, Yudhisthira also had a son named Prativindhya from his chief consort, Draupadi. Prativindhya was a powerful warrior who grew up with other Upapandavas in the palace of Indraprastha. He ruled the kingdom of Shakala and later fought in the great Kurukshetra war on the side of the Pandavas.
The Sons Of Bhima
In the epic Mahabharata, if anyone cared for and loved Draupadi the most, it would be none other than Bhima. He is well-known for his superhuman-like strength and was the only one who successfully completed his oath and took revenge for the disrobing of Draupadi, that too in the public court of Hastinapura, full of people.
He had 3 sons from three different wives. As the chief consort of all the five pandavas, Draupadi and Bhima had a son named Sutasoma. He played a critical role in the Kurukshetra war, as he nearly killed Shakuni. However, not only Sutasoma, but the other two sons of Bhima also did not survive the war.
Bhima also married a rakshasi, named Hidimba while they (the five pandavas) were living in the forest disguised as brahmins. Together, they also had a son, named Ghatotkach. In fact, Ghatotkach is the eldest son of Bhima, because Hidimba was the first woman he married.
Other than that, Bhima also married Jalandhara, who was the princess of Kasi. She begot Bhima’s third son, named Sarvaga. Although, not much is mentioned in the Mahabharata about Saravaga. However, according to some folk stories, he did not take part in the war of Kurukshetra.
The Sons Of Arjuna
Arjuna was one of the leading characters in the Mahabharata. His popularity is unmatched, even if compared with the other four of his brothers. He is the second most famous male character after Krishna. He is well-known as the best archer of his time and the great hero of the Mahabharata.
In his entire lifetime, Arjuna married four royal princesses of different states: Draupadi (the princess of Panchal State), Ulupi (the daughter of Kauravya), Chitrangada (princess of the Manipur kingdom), and Subhadra (the half-sister of Krishna).
These four wives of Arjuna gave birth to his four sons, one from each wife. They are Srutakarma, Iravan, Babhruvahana, and Abhimanyu, respectively. Each of his sons took part in the war of Kurukshetra and fought like great warriors. However, it’s only Abhimanyu who took the lion’s share of popularity and fame as the mighty son of Arjuna.
The Sons Of Nakula
Nakula is the fourth of the five Pandava brothers, and according to the text, he was the most handsome man of his time. Actually, Sahadeva and Nakula were twins blessed by the king Pandu and Madri by a celestial deity named Ashwini Kumaras.
Therefore, by definition, they are step-brothers of Yudhisthira, Bhima, and Arjuna. But they all lived together as real brothers, showing their unity. Nakula is known for his exceptional understanding of horse-keeping. According to some texts, he could understand the horse’s language, and was an expert in ayurveda.
Now, if it comes to the number of sons he had, it would be two. One from Draupadi was named Shatanika, and the other, Niramitra, was from his second wife, Karenumati, who was the daughter of Shishupala.
The Sons Of Sahadeva
Sahadeva was the youngest of the five pandavas. He is known for his exceptional skills in swordsmanship and astrology. His mastery of astrology was so good that even Duryodhana, one of the biggest enemies of the pandavas, sought regular consultations with him about his future.
However, his core skill was in the wielding of the highest quality swords. According to some texts outside of the main Mahabharata, he was a little arrogant about his mastery of astrology and spiritual knowledge.
Sahadeva had two wives. One was Draupadi, who was the common consort of all the five pandavas, and the second was Vijaya, who was the princess of Madra state.
Vijaya chose Sahadeva as her husband in the sawambar organised by her father, Dyutimata, the king of Madra. Shadeva had two sons, one from each of his wives. They are Shrutasena from Draupadi and Suhotra from Vijaya.
