Created by EditWiki45
Last edited February 20, 2026
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No need to put sons in bracket since it is already mentioned in sub-header.
 
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| family      = '''Brothers'''{{bulleted list|[[Shalya]] (elder)|[[Characters in the Mahabharata#Madrasena|Madrasena]] (younger)}}
| family      = '''Brothers'''{{bulleted list|[[Shalya]] (elder)|[[Characters in the Mahabharata#Madrasena|Madrasena]] (younger)}}
| children    = '''Sons'''{{bulleted list|[[Nakula]] by [[Ashvins]]|[[Sahadeva]] by [[Ashvins]]}}
| children    = '''Sons'''{{bulleted list|[[Nakula]] by [[Ashvins]]|[[Sahadeva]] by [[Ashvins]]}}
'''Step Sons'''{{bulleted list|[[Yudhishthira]] by [[Yama (Hinduism)|Dharmaraja]]|[[Bhima]] by [[Vayu]]|[[Arjuna]] by [[Indra]]}}
'''Step Sons'''{{bulleted list|[[Yudhishthira]] by [[Yama (Hinduism)|Dharmaraja]]|[[Bhima]] by [[Vayu]]|[[Arjuna]] by [[Indra]]}}
'''Daughter'''{{bulleted list| Shashwathi}}
}}
}}


In the [[Mahakavya|Hindu epic]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'', '''Madri''' is the princess of [[Madra Kingdom]] and the second wife of the king [[Pandu]]. She is the mother of the youngest [[Pandava]]s - the twin brothers [[Nakula]] and [[Sahadeva]]. The word ''Mādrī'' means 'she who is the princess of Madra kingdom'.<ref>{{Cite web|last=www.wisdomlib.org|date=2012-06-15|title=Madri, Mādrī, Mādri, Madrī: 14 definitions|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/madri|access-date=2020-08-31|website=www.wisdomlib.org}}</ref>
In the [[Mahakavya|Hindu epic]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'', '''Madri''' is the princess of [[Madra Kingdom]] and the second wife of the king [[Pandu]]. She is the mother of the youngest [[Pandava]]s - the twin brothers [[Nakula]] and [[Sahadeva]] and Shashwathi. The word ''Mādrī'' means 'she who is the princess of Madra kingdom'.<ref>{{Cite web|last=www.wisdomlib.org|date=2012-06-15|title=Madri, Mādrī, Mādri, Madrī: 14 definitions|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/madri|access-date=2020-08-31|website=www.wisdomlib.org}}</ref>


== Marriage ==
== Marriage ==
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== Birth of Nakula and Sahadeva ==
== Birth of Nakula and Sahadeva ==
Due to [[Pandu]]'s inability to bear children, [[Kunti]] uses a boon by Sage [[Durvasa]] to give birth to her three children [[Yudhishthira|Yudhisthira]], [[Bhima]] and [[Arjuna]] from divine fathers. She shared the boon with Madri, who invoked the divine twins [[Ashwini Kumaras]] to beget [[Nakula]] and [[Sahadeva]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=George Mason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzLTWow0EgwC&q=birth+of+nakula+and+sahadeva&pg=PA218|title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology|date=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-106-9|language=en}}</ref>
Due to [[Pandu]]'s inability to bear children, [[Kunti]] uses a boon by Sage [[Durvasa]] to give birth to her three children [[Yudhishthira|Yudhisthira]], [[Bhima]] and [[Arjuna]] from divine fathers. She shared the boon with Madri, who invoked the divine twins [[Ashwini Kumaras]] to beget [[Nakula]] and [[Sahadeva]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=George Mason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzLTWow0EgwC&q=birth+of+nakula+and+sahadeva&pg=PA218|title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology|date=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-106-9|language=en}}</ref>Meanwhile, She invoked Goddess [[Saraswati]] to beget a daughter, Shashwathi.


== Death ==
== Death ==
One day, Pandu becomes captivated by the beauty of Madri  and embraces her. As a result of the sage's curse, Pandu dies. In grief that her husband died because of her, Madri commits suicide before handing her children to Kunti.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fang|first=Liaw Yock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIv3AwAAQBAJ&q=madri+suicide&pg=PA76|title=A History of Classical Malay Literature|date=2013|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian|isbn=978-981-4459-88-4|language=en}}</ref> It is believed that Madri committed [[Sati (practice)|sati]], in which a woman self immolates on her deceased husband's pyre. However this is believed to be a later addition to the epic.<ref>{{Cite book|last=M. A. Mehendale|url=http://archive.org/details/InterpolationsInTheMahabharata|title=Interpolations In The Mahabharata|date=2001-01-01}}</ref>
One day, Pandu becomes captivated by the beauty of Madri  and embraces her. As a result of the sage's curse, Pandu dies. In grief that her husband died because of her, Madri commits suicide.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fang|first=Liaw Yock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIv3AwAAQBAJ&q=madri+suicide&pg=PA76|title=A History of Classical Malay Literature|date=2013|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian|isbn=978-981-4459-88-4|language=en}}</ref> A stanza in the Mahabharata states that Madri committed suicide by [[Sati (practice)|sati]]. However this account is contradicted by the very next stanza, which states that her dead body and that of her husband were handed over by sages to the Kaurava elders in [[Hastinapur]] for the funeral rites.<ref>{{Cite book|last=M. A. Mehendale|url=http://archive.org/details/InterpolationsInTheMahabharata|title=Interpolations In The Mahabharata|pages=200-201|date=2001-01-01}}</ref>
[[File:Pandu hunt kindama and his death.jpg|thumb|Madri committed [[sati (practice)|sati]] (see pannel corner) , from Birla [[Razmnama]]]]
[[File:Pandu hunt kindama and his death.jpg|thumb|Madri committed [[sati (practice)|sati]] (see pannel corner) , from Birla [[Razmnama]]]]



Revision as of 01:50, 14 November 2021

Madri
File:Pandu at Shatasrunga Hill.jpg
Madri, Kunti and Pandu at Shatasrunga hill.
Personal Information
FamilyBrothers
SpousePandu
ChildrenSons Step Sons Daughter
  • Shashwathi

In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Madri is the princess of Madra Kingdom and the second wife of the king Pandu. She is the mother of the youngest Pandavas - the twin brothers Nakula and Sahadeva and Shashwathi. The word Mādrī means 'she who is the princess of Madra kingdom'.[1]

Marriage

In the epic Mahabharata, Madri is the sister of Shalya, the king of Madra Kingdom. Once Hastinapur's Kuru king Pandu encounters the army of Shalya. Very soon, Pandu and Shalya become friends. The Adi Parva of the Mahabharata says that Bhishma goes to Madra and asks for the hand of Madri for Pandu. Shalya assents, but according to their family custom he cannot 'bestow' his sister to the Kurus. So Bhishma gives him wealth, gold, elephants, horses etc. and takes Madri with him to Hastinapur.[2]

Pandu's curse

While hunting in a forest, Pandu sees a couple of deer in the process of coitus, and shoots arrows at them; only to find out that it was a sage named Kindama and his wife who were making love in the form of deer. The dying sage curses Pandu, that if he would approach his wives with the intent of making love, he would die. Upset and seeking to repent his action, Pandu renounces his kingdom and lives as an ascetic with his wives.[3]

Birth of Nakula and Sahadeva

Due to Pandu's inability to bear children, Kunti uses a boon by Sage Durvasa to give birth to her three children Yudhisthira, Bhima and Arjuna from divine fathers. She shared the boon with Madri, who invoked the divine twins Ashwini Kumaras to beget Nakula and Sahadeva.[4]Meanwhile, She invoked Goddess Saraswati to beget a daughter, Shashwathi.

Death

One day, Pandu becomes captivated by the beauty of Madri and embraces her. As a result of the sage's curse, Pandu dies. In grief that her husband died because of her, Madri commits suicide.[5] A stanza in the Mahabharata states that Madri committed suicide by sati. However this account is contradicted by the very next stanza, which states that her dead body and that of her husband were handed over by sages to the Kaurava elders in Hastinapur for the funeral rites.[6]

File:Pandu hunt kindama and his death.jpg
Madri committed sati (see pannel corner) , from Birla Razmnama

References

  1. www.wisdomlib.org (15 June 2012). "Madri, Mādrī, Mādri, Madrī: 14 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  2. Debalina (20 December 2019). Into the Myths: A Realistic Approach Towards Mythology and Epic. Partridge Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5437-0576-8.
  3. Ramankutty, P.V. (1999). Curse as a motif in the Mahābhārata (1. ed.). Delhi: Nag Publishers. ISBN 9788170814320.
  4. Williams, George Mason (2003). Handbook of Hindu Mythology. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-106-9.
  5. Fang, Liaw Yock (2013). A History of Classical Malay Literature. Institute of Southeast Asian. ISBN 978-981-4459-88-4.
  6. M. A. Mehendale (1 January 2001). Interpolations In The Mahabharata. pp. 200–201.