Description Of Five Face Vishwakarma In Taittiriya Shruti Pancha Brahma Upanishad
In the vast tapestry of Hindu Dharma, Vishwakarma occupies a
singular and exalted position as the Devashilpi — the master architect and
craftsman of the gods. He is not merely a deity of tools and workshops but a
cosmic creative force whose very form encodes the entire philosophy of sacred
craft, divine order, and purposeful creation. Unlike the popular simplified
image of a craftsman holding tools, the Virat Roopam — the universal form — of
Vishwakarma as described in the Taittiriya Shruti Pancha Brahma Upanishad
reveals a being of immense cosmic stature: five-faced, ten-handed, embodying
the totality of all creative knowledge that sustains the universe.
The Five Faces — Five Streams of Creation
From the five faces of Vishwakarma emerged five great sages
who became the primordial ancestors of the five branches of sacred craft. From
the first face came Manu, from the second Maya, from the third Tvashtha, from
the fourth Shilpi, and from the fifth Vishvajna. This account is corroborated
in the Skanda Purana, Nagara Khanda, Chapter 5, verse 13:
"Manur Mayas ca Tvashtha ca Shilpi Vishvajna eva ca,
Panchite Devarishayah Vishvakarma-mukhodbhavah."
Meaning: Manu, Maya, Tvashtha, Shilpi, and Vishvajna — these
five divine sages were born from the face or faces of Vishwakarma.
Each face is not merely a physical feature but a creative
emanation — a channel through which a specific dimension of divine knowledge
flows into the world. Just as Brahma's four faces are said to have given rise
to the four Vedas, Vishwakarma's five faces gave rise to the five streams of
shilpa vidya — the science of sacred making.
Five Faces, Five Crafts, Five Gotras
The Sri Vishwakarmanvaya Pradipika, verse 48, authored by
Varaha Narasimhacharya, precisely maps each sage to a distinct craft:
"Ayasi ca Manoh, Kashthi Mayasya khalu, Kamsiki
Tvashtuh, Shaili Shilpino vai, Vishvajnasya tu Kanchani."
Accordingly, Manu is the progenitor of ironworking, Maya of
woodworking and carpentry, Tvashtha of bronze and copper work, Shilpi of stone
carving, and Vishvajna of goldsmithing. These five are not simply occupational
categories — they represent five sacred relationships between human hands,
natural materials, and divine intelligence. In Hindu understanding, every act
of craftsmanship is a form of yajna — an offering — and each material worked
upon carries its own guna and spiritual property.
Correspondingly, the five gotras that emerged from these
sages are Sanaga from Manu, Sanatana from Maya, Ahabhuna from Tvashtha, Pratna
from Shilpi, and Suparna from Vishvajna. These gotra names are ancient,
carrying resonances of permanence, continuity, and transcendence — Sanatana
meaning eternal, Suparna evoking the golden-winged, an epithet often associated
with divine radiance.
The Ten Hands — Symbolism of Creative and Protective
Power
Vishwakarma in his Virat Roopam holds ten attributes across
his ten hands, five on the right and five on the left. The right hands bear the
posture of blessing alongside the akshamala (prayer beads), a snake, an arrow,
a chakra, and a trishul. The left hands hold a flower, a bow, a veena, a snake
entwined with a damaru, and a shankha.
Each of these attributes carries layered meaning. The
blessing posture affirms that Vishwakarma is above all a giver — one whose
craft serves not personal gain but cosmic welfare. The akshamala points to
japa, to meditative discipline, reminding every craftsman that skill must be
rooted in spiritual practice. The chakra and trishul indicate that creative
power and the power to destroy what is wrongly made or corrupt are inseparable
— a sculptor must know not only how to chisel but also when to break. The bow
and arrow together speak to precision and focus, which are the hallmarks of a
true shilpi. The veena in the left hand connects Vishwakarma to nada — sacred
sound — affirming that architecture, music, and craft are unified expressions
of divine harmony. The shankha, which produces the primordial sound that wards
off negativity, signifies that no sacred creation can exist without
purification of intention and space. The snake, appearing in both sets of
hands, represents kundalini energy — the coiled creative power that, when
properly channeled, produces masterworks.
The Significance of the Blue and Green Faces
Among the five faces, one is described as blue and another
as green. In Hindu iconography, color carries precise spiritual meaning. Blue —
the color of the infinite sky and the deep ocean — is associated with
consciousness, cosmic depth, and that which transcends all limitation. Green is
the color of life, growth, prana, and fertility. These two faces together
suggest that Vishwakarma's creative vision encompasses both the transcendent
and the immanent — the eternal blueprint and its living expression in the
material world.
Vishwakarma in Scripture and Sacred History
Vishwakarma is mentioned across a wide range of Shruti and
Smriti texts. In the Rigveda, he is described as the all-seeing god who has on
every side eyes, faces, arms, and feet, who, when producing heaven and earth,
shapes them with his arms and wings. He is the divine carpenter who fashioned
the weapons of the devas, built the city of Dwaraka for Bhagavan Krishna,
constructed Lanka for Ravana, and designed the chariot of Surya. The
Mahabharata acknowledges him as the fashioner of divine weapons including the
Sudarshana Chakra and the Vajra of Indra.
His role is not incidental but structural — the universe
itself is a crafted reality, and Vishwakarma is the intelligence that gives it
its precise, purposeful form.
Shilpa Vidya as Sacred Philosophy
The deeper teaching embedded in the Panchavaktra form of
Vishwakarma is that all creative knowledge is sacred and all crafts are paths
of dharma. The five-fold division of crafts mirrors the Panchamahabhuta — the
five great elements — suggesting that each craft is an engagement with
elemental reality. Iron connects to the earth element in its hardest, most
enduring form. Wood connects to the living, organic dimension of earth. Copper
and bronze carry the fire element through their conductivity and luster. Stone
represents the stable, immovable quality of the earth as witness. Gold, the
most refined of metals, connects to the light of Agni and Surya — the fire of
consciousness.
The Shilpa Shastras, the ancient technical and philosophical
treatises on art and architecture, state that a shilpi must first purify
himself through ritual, then visualize the deity in meditation before beginning
any work. The object of craft is thus not merely functional but a manifestation
of a divine prototype seen in the inner eye.
Modern Day Relevance
In contemporary life, Vishwakarma Puja is observed across
India on the last day of Bhadrapada or on Kanya Sankranti, celebrated widely in
factories, workshops, engineering units, and construction sites. However, the
deeper philosophical relevance of Vishwakarma's Panchavaktra form lies in what
it teaches about work itself. Every form of skilled labor, when approached with
reverence, discipline, and intention, becomes sacred action — karma yoga in its
most embodied form.
At a time when craft traditions are under pressure from
industrial standardization, the Vishwakarma tradition offers a counter-vision:
that the human hand, guided by a trained mind and a purified heart, is itself a
divine instrument. The five faces remind us that no single craft is superior to
another — ironworker and goldsmith, woodworker and stone carver all descend
from the same divine source and all participate in the same cosmic act of
giving form to the formless.
Vishwakarma is thus not simply a deity to be worshipped on one day a year but a living philosophical principle — that creation is sacred, that craft is worship, and that the one who works with true knowledge and devotion walks the path of the divine.