About
Devika — Second Wife of Yudhishthira, Princess of the Sivi Kingdom
Devika · Sivirajnandini · Govasanasuta · Dharmapatni
Devika was the daughter of King Govasana of the Sivi kingdom and the second wife of Yudhishthira. At her svayamvara, she chose Yudhishthira as her husband. Their union produced one son, Yaudheya. She is described in the tradition as a ratna among women — a jewel, a woman of outstanding virtue and quality.
✦ The Name
The name Devika derives from deva — the divine, the celestial, the luminous — with the feminine suffix ika: she who is of divine nature, or the little goddess. It is a name of radiance and sacred character.
✦ Lineage
- Father: King Govasana — ruler of the Sivi kingdom
- Husband: Yudhishthira (Dharmaraja) — eldest Pandava, son of Yama-Dharmaraja
- Son: Yaudheya — who survived the Kurukshetra war and inherited the Sivi kingdom
- Mother-in-law: Kunti
- Co-wife: Draupadi — shared queen of all five Pandavas
✦ The Svayamvara
Devika's marriage was a svayamvara — a ceremony in which the bride herself selected her husband. She chose Yudhishthira. It was a traditional and individual arrangement, entirely separate from the shared wife convention that governed the Pandavas' marriage to Draupadi. This was Yudhishthira's marriage alone — the one in which he was simply one woman's chosen husband.
✦ References
- Mahabharata (Vyasa) — Adi Parva, Chapter 90, Verse 83: records Devika as the daughter of King Govasana of the Sivi kingdom, her svayamvara marriage to Yudhishthira, and their son Yaudheya
- Vishnu Purana — genealogical passages noting Yudhishthira's union with Devika and the descent through Yaudheya; some manuscript traditions invert the names, calling the mother Yaudheyi and the son Devaka — a noted textual variant