Who are Nakula and Sahadeva?

The twins

Nakula and Sahadeva were the youngest of the five Pandavas, twin sons of Madri and the Ashvins, the twin healer-gods of heaven. After their mother died, Kunti raised them as her own, and their older brothers protected them fiercely.

The twins are quieter than their brothers, but the Pandavas would not be the Pandavas without them.

Nakula, the horseman

Nakula was said to be the most handsome man of his time, and a master of horses and the sword. During the year the Pandavas lived in disguise at the court of King Virata, he worked in the royal stables as a horse trainer.

Sahadeva, the wise one

Sahadeva was the youngest and, in many ways, the wisest of the brothers, learned in the stars and in the reading of signs. In disguise he worked as a keeper of the king’s cattle. In the war it was Sahadeva who killed Shakuni, the man whose dice had sent them into exile.

A moment at the lake (spoilers)

When the yaksha at the lake offered Yudhishthira the life of one brother, he chose Nakula, not his own full brothers Bhima or Arjuna. Kunti still had a living son, he said, so Madri should have one too. Moved by his fairness, the spirit returned them all.

On the final journey to the Himalayas, Sahadeva fell after Draupadi, and Nakula after him.