A sage of ancient times. The पुराणस् give the following details about him.

He was a disciple of आसुरि . He was brought up breastfed by कपिला , wife of आसुरि and so he was known as कापिल also. He dwelt in पञ्चस्रोतस् and performed a याग for a thousand years and got his name पञ्चशिख . He went to the assembly of the learned king जनक and entered into a polemic contest with him and defeated him. The defeated King gave पञ्चशिख great respect and he lived in the court of जनक as his Guru for a number of years. [mh-12-218-1 ] Mahābhārata • Śānti parva .