Pañcabrahma: The Five Faces of Śiva

The Pañcabrahma, “the five Brahmas”, are the five highest forms of Śiva: Īśāna, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vāmadeva and Sadyojāta. Through them the one Parameśvara, who is in himself nirguṇa (beyond all qualities), divides his activity into five works: creation, sustaining, dissolution, concealment and grace. They are often shown as the five faces of Sadāśiva.

In the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa, each of the five forms rules over a direction, a tattva (element), a bīja (seed syllable), a colour, a work, and one syllable of the pañcākshara mantra, Na-ma-Śi-vā-ya. The idea of the Pañcabrahma lies under both the Śaiva picture of the universe and the ritual of the pañcāvaraṇa pūjā (pūjā in five enclosures).

The Five Forms

The Five Divine Works

The Vāyavīya Saṃhitā presents the Pañcabrahma as the divine order through which Śiva runs the universe. All five works are aspects of the one Parameśvara:

1. Sṛshṭi (creation): Sadyojāta brings things into being. The name means “born at once” (sadyas means at once, jāta means born), showing that creation springs forth freely from Śiva’s will
2. Sthiti (sustaining): Vāmadeva keeps the created order going. He is the gentle, beautiful form (vāma means beautiful, or left)
3. Saṃhāra (dissolution): Aghora draws creation back into the unmanifest. He is the fearsome form who is kind in the end (aghora means “not terrible”: the terrible one who is, in truth, auspicious)
4. Tirodhāna (concealment): Tatpurusha veils the true nature of the self. This sets up saṃsāra (the cycle of rebirth) and, by contrast, the way to final liberation
5. Anugraha (grace): Īśāna grants liberation. He rules from above, the zenith, pouring grace on all beings

The Pañcabrahma in Pūjā

Pañcabrahma Nyāsa

The Vāyavīya Saṃhitā teaches a Pañcabrahma nyāsa, in which the five forms are placed in the mind on five parts of the worshipper’s own body before pūjā:

• Sadyojāta: the base of the body (the mūlādhāra region)
• Vāmadeva: the heart region
• Aghora: the throat or forehead region
• Tatpurusha: the face or crown of the head
• Īśāna: the space above the crown (the brahmarandhra)

This practice turns the worshipper’s body into a living Śivaliṅga, the five-faced form of Sadāśiva.

In the Pañcāvaraṇa Pūjā

The five forms of the Pañcabrahma make up the innermost (first) āvaraṇa (layer) of the pañcāvaraṇa pūjā. All the other layers, the vidyeśvaras, the ashṭamūrtis, the trimūrtis and the outer devatās, spread outward from the Pañcabrahma at the centre.

In the Śiva Mahā Stotra

Chapter 31 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa contains a complete stotra (hymn of praise) that addresses each of the Pañcabrahma separately and all of them together. Each of the five forms is called on in turn, and the stotra ends by addressing Sadāśiva, who holds all five within himself. The stotra is recited at the end of the pañcāvaraṇa pūjā.

The Pañcabrahma and the Pañcākshara

The deepest teaching of the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā links the five syllables of Na-ma-Śi-vā-ya with the five forms of the Pañcabrahma. When a sādhaka (practitioner) says the pañcākshara, he calls on all five divine works at once. In this way the mantra:

• Honours Śiva’s power to create (Na = Sadyojāta)
• Offers surrender to his power to sustain (Ma = Vāmadeva)
• Entrusts one’s dissolution to him (Śi = Aghora)
• Accepts his play of concealment as needed (Vā = Tatpurusha)
• Calls on his grace for liberation (Ya = Īśāna)

“One who knows this inner meaning of the five syllables truly knows the mantra — not merely its sound.”

The Pañcabrahma and the Ashṭamūrti

The Vāyavīya Saṃhitā places the Pañcabrahma above the ashṭamūrti, the eight forms of Śiva. The Pañcabrahma is the higher, more abstract face of Śiva in the universe, while the ashṭamūrti are his eight presences in the elements of the world. In the pañcāvaraṇa pūjā, the Pañcabrahma sit in the innermost ring, closest to Śiva’s supreme form, and the ashṭamūrti in the next ring out.

Links with the Worlds and the Vedas

These links with the worlds differ from text to text. The Vāyavīya treats the links with the pañcākshara and the directions as the main ones.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Vāyavīya Saṃhitā (Book 7), Uttara Khaṇḍa, including Chapter 31