lion - "five-faced"

[Madhav Deshpande]

V.S.Apte's dictionary explains paJcaanana referring to a lion as paJcam aananam yasya, "so called because its mouth is generally wide-open."  It also lists paJca in the sense of "spread, extended," though the only cited instances of this word are in compounds like paJcaanana.  

                                                Madhav Deshpande

> ----------
> From:         Eva De Clercq
> Reply To:     Indology
> Sent:         Friday, January 10, 2003 8:28 AM
> To:   INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
> Subject:           lion - "five-faced"
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Do any of you have any references to why a lion is often called "five-
> faced", paJcànana?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Eva De Clercq
> 
>