page_title: Sharabha
section_title: Vaishnava views
hierarchical_section_title: Sharabha / In Hindu scriptures / Vaishnava views
caption_attribution_description: Ashtamukha Gandaberunda Narasimha slaying Sharabha
context_page_description: Sharabha or Sarabha is a part-lion and part-bird beast in Hindu mythology, who, according to Sanskrit literature, is eight-legged and more powerful than a lion or an elephant, possessing the ability to clear a valley in one jump. In later literature, Sharabha is described as an eight-legged deer.
  The Shaiva scriptures narrate that god Shiva assumed the Avatar of Sharabha to pacify Narasimha - the fierce man-lion avatar of Vishnu worshipped by Vaishnava sect. This form is popularly known as Sharabeshwara or Sharabeshwaramurti. The Vaishnavas refute the portrayal of Narasimha as being destroyed by Shiva-Sharabha and regard Sharabha as a name of Vishnu. Then the story narrates that Vishnu assumed the form of the ferocious Gandabherunda bird-animal to kill Sharabha, which he did and that's where the tale ended.
  In Buddhism, Sharabha appears in Jataka Tales as a previous birth of the Buddha. It also appears in Tibetan Buddhist art, symbolizing the perfection of effort. As a figure of power and majesty, Sharabha has appeared in numerous emblems, such as those of the State government of the Indian state of Karnataka, the University of Mysore, and Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited.
context_section_description: Vaishnava followers including Dvaita scholars, such as Vijayendra Tirtha (1514–93) refute the portrayal of Narasimha as being destroyed by Sharabha as they consider the Shaivite Puranas as tamasic - and thus not authoritative.
  Some regional South-Indian folklore tales narrate that Narasimha took the form of Gandabherunda (literally "the mighty two-headed"), a more ferocious two-headed bird-animal, who combats and kills Shiva-Sharabha. 
  There is also a reference to Sharabha in the Vishnu sahasranama, the thousand names of Vishnu, and the literal meaning seems to suggest the praise of Sharabha (the lion-killing animal). Adi Shankaracharya refers to this 356th name of Vishnu sahasranama as not mentioning the lion-killing animal at all and instead interprets the name to mean, "As the Lord shines in the body as the indwelling Self, He is called Sharabha, while the body is sara (perishable)."
  Narasimhan Krishnamachari, a scholar on Vishishtadvaita philosophy, states that the name "Sharabha" has been interpreted in two ways namely; the first interpretation means "the Destroyer (of those who transgress the bounds of ethics)," as given by the Sri Vaishnavite commentator, Parasara Bhattar and the second interpretation as given by Adi Sankara, among others. The former is based on the Sanskrit verb SR, which means "to injure to destroy". According to C. V. Radhakrishna Sastri, "Sara also refers to an arrow, and the perishable body shines if it is aimed at Bhagavan, because He shines in that body."
caption: Narasimha transformed into Gandabherunda, to combat Sharabha. Ashtamukha Gandabherunda Narasimha slaying Sharabha and Hiranyakashipu, depicted in his lap.
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