Appendix 1 - The five faces of Śiva (pañcānana)

Extracted from Vidyeśvara-saṃhitā, chapter 1:

Note: the following is extracted from the first chapter of the Vidyeśvara-saṃhitā (the Doubt of the Sages):

“I meditate on Śiva, the lord of Ambikā (Pārvatī), auspicious from the beginning to the end, having no parallel, the noble lord, the unaging and the undying, the lord of Ātmans, the five-faced and the dispeller of the five powerful sins.”

Pañcānana: In Hindu Mythology God Śiva has five faces. Pāśupata teachers had developed a special doctrine of Pañca-Brahma in which they ascribed five faces to Śiva symbolising the five elements (Liṅga. 2. 14. 1. 33., ŚP 1. 10. 1-9). It is stated that Śiva has the form of twenty-five tattvas symbolised by his five faces as follows:

N. of faces	Mūrtis	Jñānendriyas	Karmendriyas	Tanmātras	Bhūtas
1. Īśāna	Kṣetrajña puruṣa	Śravaṇa	Vāk	Śabda	Ākāśa
2. Tat-Purusa	Prakrti	Tvacā	Pāni	Sparśa	Vāyu
3. Aghora or Agni	Buddhi	Cakṣu	Pāda	Rūpa	Agni
4. Vāmadeva	Ahaṅkāra	Jihvā	Pāyu	Rasa	Jala
5. Sadyojāta	Manastattva Ghrāṇa		Upastha	Gandha	Pṛthivī

Thus the whole scheme of creation is explained by the doctrine of Pañca-Brahma. The great statue of Śiva in the Elephanta caves represents the Pañca-Brahma form which is also known as Maheśamūrti in which the frontal view depicts three heads only, the fourth one on the back is concealed from view and the fifth one on the top dropped out as the symbol of invisible Ākāśa or Avyakta Prakṛti: See V. S. Agrawal: Matsya Purāṇa: A Study PP. 51-52,

Extracted from Śatarudra-saṃhitā, chapter 1:

Note: the following is extracted from the first chapter of the Śatarudra-saṃhitā (the five incarnations of the supreme Brahman):

“40. The five famous forms of Maheśa are thus named Īśāna, Puruṣa, Aghora, Vāma and Brahman.”

The five forms of Śiva viz Īśāna, Tatpuruṣa, Aghora, Vāmadeva and Sadyojāta are creative. They ara symbolical of the scheme of creation evolved out of twenty-five constituents viz. five gross and five subtle elements, five organs of action and five of knowledge, besides mind, ego, intellect, nature and the individual soul. Each form stands in relation to a particular element or organ as follows.

Name	Form	Organ of action	Organ of knowledge	Subtle elements	Gross elements
Īśāna	soul	cars	speech	sound	ether
Tatpuruṣa	nature	skin	hand	touch	wind
Aghora	intellect	eye	feet	form	fire
Vāmadeva	ego	tongue	anus	taste	water
Sadyojāta	mind	nose	organ of generation	smell	earth