According to Śaiva Agama, Lord Shiva performs five actions - creation, preservation, dissolution, concealing grace, and revealing grace. Each of the five actions corresponds to a name and form of Shiva with varying attributes. These five names are:
Names with Relation to Action Performed, Direction Faced, and Associated Element:
- Sadyojāta - Creation. West. Earth. Pṛthvī.
- Vāmadeva - Preservation. North. Water. Jala.
- Aghora -Dissolution/Rejuvenation. South. Fire. Agni
- Tatpuruṣa - Concealing Grace. East. Vāyu. Air.
- Īśāna - Revealing Grace. North-east. Ether (Ākāśa).
Though bearing each a different name, form, and set of qualities, these are all aspects of a one Supreme Being - Śiva, and are not to be looked upon as different Deities.
- Sadyojāta: Represents Icchā Śaktī. This face of Śiva will give you both happiness and sadness to all creatures. This face of Śiva can potentially give you a curse and anger from Śiva. Represents Jalandhara Pīṭham. One Crore (100,00,000) Mantras are trying to describing this face of Śiva. White in color. Ahaṃkāra Tattva.
- Vāmadeva: Represents Citta rūpa and Citta rūpiṇi of Śiva. This is Turīya Avastha. This face of Śiva will have special powers to heal both mentally and physically of any creature. Represents Parāliṅga. . Two Crore (200,00,000) Mantras are trying to describing this face of Śiva. Blood red in color. Tejas Tattva. Direction is North. Cancer patients and terminally ill patients should chant this face of Śiva i.e., consider doing a Vāmadeva mantra. It gives them an opportunity to recovery from the illness. It represents indescribable amount of brightness of light.
- Aghora: Represents Jñāna Śaktī(Infinite Knowledge). It is junction of Prakṛti (nature) and Parā Śaktī. This face of Śiva is Buddhi rūpa. Represents Pūrṇagiri Pīṭham. Banaliṅgam. . One Crore (100,00,000) Mantras are trying to describing this face of Śiva. Smoke(Dhumra varṇa) in color. It represents our balanced aspect of Ahaṃkāra Tattva (our ego nature). Mixture of Prāmaṇa and Prameya.
- Tatpuruṣa : Represents Ānānda Śaktī. East direction. Kāmagiri Pīṭham. Manorūpa. It represents our shape of soul. . Two Crore (200,00,000) Mantras are trying to describing this face of Śiva. Yellow in color. Pṛthvī (Earth) Tattva. Svambhuva liṅga. If you have severe difficulty in focusing on any subject, you should meditate this face of Śiva. Śiva in this face meditates. Direction is East.
- Īśāna: Represents the Citta Śaktī of Śiva. Sāmbā Pīṭham. Represents Space. Starts from your Mūlādhāra to Brahma Randra in your body. . One Crore (100,00,000) Mantras are trying to describing this face of Śiva. Ākāśa (Ether) Tattva.
Depending on your Rāśi, Lagna, Daśā, Antardaśā, Janma Nakṣatra, whichever is strong you should meditate that face of Śiva.
For example Aghora represents South. If your resultant is south( i.e., rāśi, lagna occupies south direction of Sun in your horoscope), you can mediate Southern face of Śiva i.e, Aghora. Depending on the problematic area of life, Kendra, Koṇa, Duṣṭhāna, Trikoṇa, Āpoklima - you should meditate that face of Śiva to get some relief in that problematic area.
For example with somebody having Taurus (Vṛṣabha)rāśi as lagna, having Venus is in 11th bhāva i.e., Pisces (Mīna). Running Daśā is Guru Daśā and let’s say his Antardaśā is Saturn. Now, let’s say in this example, venus is strong in Pisces, but he is running Guru Daśā, If Guru is present in Dhanus, then we consider him as weak because he is occupying 8th House. Since Guru is present in north east corner of the horoscope he should start with Northern face of Śiva mantra. After that Eastern face of Śiva, so on…