Nakula

Nakula
An 18th century painting depicting Nakula
Personal Information
Affiliation	Pandava
Weapon	Sword
Family	Ashvina Nasatya (father) Madri (mother) Pandu (adoptive father) Kunti (step-mother) Sahadeva (twin-brother) Karna Yudhishthira Bhima Arjuna (step-brothers)
Spouse	Draupadi Karenumati[1]
Children	Sons Shatanika by Draupadi Niramitra by Karenumati
Relatives	Shalya (maternal uncle) Dhritarashtra and Vidura (paternal uncles) Kauravas (paternal cousins)

Nakula (Sanskrit: नकुल) was the fourth of the five Pandava brothers in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He and his twin brother Sahadeva were the sons of Madri, one of the wives of the Pandava patriarch Pandu, and Ashvini Kumaras, the divine twin physicians of the gods, whom she invoked to beget her sons due to Pandu's inability to progenate. Nakula is described as the most handsome man of his lineage, and was renowned for his beauty, skill in swordsmanship and horse keeping.

He shared the common wife, Draupadi, with his four brothers. He was also married to Karenumati of Chedi Kingdom. He had two sons Shatanika and Niramitra from his two wives respectively. During the Rajasuya of his eldest brother Yudhishthira, he conquered the kings of the Sivis, the Rohitakas and other dynasties. After Yudhishthira lost all his possessions to his cousin Duryodhana in a dice game, the Pandavas and Draupadi were exiled for thirteen years. During the Pandavas' year of incognito exile, he disguised as a horse trainer named Granthika, and worked in the kingdom of Virata. Nakula was a skilled warrior who fought in the Kurukshetra War between the Pandavas and their cousins Kauravas. After the war, Yudhishthira appointed Sahadeva as the king of northern Madra. At the end of the epic, during the Pandavas' journey to the Himalayas to enter heaven, Sahadeva was the third to fall, following Draupadi and Sahadeva, due to his excessive pride in his beauty.