#sarvaga

[sambhavami]

Women in Mahabharata - Valandhara

She is a princess of Kashi and a wife of Bheema. Bheema won her hand in marriage in a veerya-shulka ceremony (where prospective grooms have to win some kind of contest).

Her son is named Sarvaga. She is only mentioned once in the Mahabharata, but the existence of her son is confirmed in both Matsya and Vishnu puranas.

Her son was not seen fighting in the war of Kurukshetra, and most probably inherited his grandfather's throne like the rest of the 'other' children of the Pandavas.

[theramblergal]

Which of the other sons of the Pandvas do you think fought in and survived the war? And how do you think their relationship with their fathers looked like post- war?

Also, since I love me some overlooked character rep, any headcanons on them?

Ugh, I vacillate on this way too much. But cheers, your ask helped push me to actually decide what I thought.

Let's do a quick round-up, eh?

The Upapandavas, Ghatotkacha, Iravan and Abhimanyu are explicitly mentioned to have been fighting in the war. Babruvahana is mentioned to not. So, that leaves: Yaudheya, Sarvaga, Niramitra and Suhotra.

I decided I'd like symmetry. So two of them fight and the other two don't.

Here's who fights (and why):

Sarvaga: Kashi brings a good chunk of army to the Pandava side. As Bhima's son, Sarvaga would definitely have been very inclined to fighting. There was never really any doubt in Sarvaga's mind that he wouldn't fight.

Niramitra: In my ordering of the kids (which is arbitrary, and not based on any sort of canonical evidence), he's the youngest of the Pandava brood. Renu is somewhat opposed to his fighting, but then Chedi is one of the major allies of the Pandavas. He argues that "Karma and Abhi are fighting and they're only 2 years older than me!" so his parents eventually give in.

And yeah, because nobody except the Pandavas, Krishna, and Satyaki survived from their side, I'm going to say that they didn't survive the war either.

Now as for who doesn't fight:

Yaudheya: He doesn't fight, because Shivi has been plagued with uncertainties since his grandfather's time (largely due to Jayadratha's overlordship) so he wants to make sure someone's there to succeed to the throne in case. And because he feels disconnected from Yudhi too. Out of universe, I just like the Complexities of him not fighting. Imagine the tension and the angst. Plus there's this kingdom called the Yaudheyas, which is an interesting thought.

Suhotra: He sees the futility of it all, says "fuck this, all my siblings are going to die, my granduncle is in the opposing army and I don't have the strength to fight" and so he steps away. He keeps vacillating between fighting or not fighting, but when he gets the news that Shalya is fighting on the opposite side, he finally makes up his mind. Politically, he also wants to ensure Madra has a successor too.

Again, these are just my personal thoughts and headcanons. None of them are mentioned as fighting in the war, so this isn't canonically based. But it adds Layers and I love them.

As for post-war relationships with their fathers.. I'll have to think. I'm saving the headcanons unrelated to the war for a separate post because this is too long.

Thank you for this, and I'm sorry it took so long haha.

[theramblergal]

Sarvaga answered almost instantly, “Mama Abhibhu sent me a letter—actually, it was for Mata,” he sheepishly admitted, drawing laughter from his brothers; it was well known amongst them that Sarvaga liked to snoop into other’s letters like it was his own business. “He said that the troops have been gathered; he’s bringing an Akshauhini, but said it would take awhile because they’re still gathering supplies.” Shrutasena made a note on some parchment.   Then, Abhimanyu looked at Yaudheya.  He wasn’t the only one, of course. All of them were looking at Yaudheya. Yaudheya sighed as he interlaced his fingers loosely—a mannerism of his Pitrivyah Yudhishthira, Abhimanyu remembered. Yaudheya looked little like Yudhishthira; all his looks were from his mother’s side, but he mirrored his father enough through small actions that any who looked at him would be able to tell his parentage easily.

I love small characterizations as much I love the Pandava kiddos🤩

(we do not talk about the angst surrounding this excerpt on both sides)