Shiva Agamas are the Agamas which were revealed by Mahadeva Himself. The Kamika Agama which is considered to be one of the most important Agamas describes how they were revealed. It describes Mahadeva as having five faces – Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and Ishana. Each of these faces of Mahadeva further had 5 five faces. The Laukika, Vaidika, Adhyatmika, Atimarga and Mantra Agamas were revealed by each of the 5 faces. These are not just names, but categories of Agamas. Thus, it makes a total of 25 faces.
The Sadyojata face revealed the Bhuta Tanra (example – Kaula Tantra) with 24 variations. The Vamadeva face revealed the Vama Tantra with 24 variations; the Aghora face revealed the Bhairava Tantra; the Tatpurusha face revealed the Garuda Tantra, with 24 variations and the Ishana face, which is the most important and which gives enlightenment revealed two types of Agamas – the Rudra Bheda and the Shiva Bedha. The Rudra Bheda were 18 and the Shiva Bedha were 10. The names of the Shiva Bedha are mentioned as – Yoga, Chintya, Karana, Ajita, Dipta, Sukhshma, Shasra, Amshumam and Kamika. Of these, the Kamika is considered to be the most important. The Kamika Agama gives the total number of Agamas as 25, but there are other additional Agamas revealed by some of the faces.
This gives us an understanding of the vastness, the length, breadth and depth of the Agamas.
