A sitting
The Five Brothers
Who are the Pandavas, and why are they five instead of one king’s sons? Pandu cannot father children. The gods do it for him — and Draupadi marries all five.
Pandu kills a muni in a deer’s shape and is cursed to die if he goes to a wife in desire. He asks Kunti to raise sons as he himself was raised in Vichitravirya’s field. She says she already has the means: Durvasa’s mantra.
She calls Dharma; Yudhishthira is named from the sky and told he will rule. She calls Vayu; Bhima is born and the rock under him breaks. She calls Indra; Arjuna comes with celestial drums. Madri asks for the mantra. Kunti lets her use it once. Madri calls both Ashvins and has Nakula and Sahadeva.
That is why they are five, and why they are not simply ‘Pandu’s sons’ in one sense and are exactly that in another. This site records both the god and the pale king.
Later Kunti, not looking, tells them to share whatever they have brought. They have brought Draupadi. Yudhishthira will not make the mother’s word false. The fivefold marriage is not a later scandal pasted on. It is the house’s own logic, already used for births, applied to a wife.
Ordered cast
Source notes
Mahabharata, Adi Parva (Sambhava, Swayamvara), Ganguli. Last reviewed 12 September 2026.