According to some Puranas, Lord Shiva took the form of Sharabha to pacify and control the Narasimha Avatar of Lord Vishnu. If Lord Vishnu as Narasimha was half-man half-lion; Lord Shiva as Sharaba was part human, part animal and part bird with numerous claws and legs – some writers equate the form to a dragon. Sharabha manifestation of Lord Shiva is not very popular and there is popular notion that this incarnation of Shiva was created to position Shiva as greater than Vishnu by some Shaivites.
Lord Narasimha's terrifying rage could not be dissipated even after He had slain the Demon King Hiranyakashipu. A more ferocious form of Sharabha was able to pacify Narasimha Vishnu. Soon Vishnu appeared in the pleasant form before his devotees.
Shiva Purana describes the Sharabha for like this:
He had a thousand hands and wore matted locks. His head was adorned by the crested moon. He appeared like a bird with wings and beak. His body was fierce and fully developed.
His fangs were very sharp. Adamantine claws were His weapons. His neck was black in colour. He had huge arms and four legs. He was blazing like fire.
His voice was resonant and terrible like the rumbling sound of the clouds that gather at the end of the yuga. His three eyes were wide and blazing as the fire of the evil spirit of great fury.
His fangs and lips were clearly visible. He was producing a hissing sound of humkara. Shiva of such a form appeared in sight.
This fierce form of Shiva is also known as Sarabheswara. The image of two Sharabhas guarding the entrance of Shiva temples is common in many South Indian temples.
9 comments:
Life is a journey and knowledge is infinite.
I thank you for the informative post. I was not aware about the same.
Thankyou !
Equivalent Avathar of Parvathi for Sharabhakshan is Pratyangira Devi..Almost the same roopam in Female form.
Hara Hara Shambho Shiva Shiva Shambho Mahadeva Shambho
This is awesome!...never knew about this earlier...thanks for postign this
nice...this one is true...good job yar...
I ne'er knew about this. Thanks for such a awesome information....
After Lord Narashimha killed Hiranyakashipu,the anger of Lord did not subside.In fact his anger escalated due to the dirty blood which entered Lord.(Demon blood had entered auspicious system of Lord.Anger was destroying the 3 worlds.
Hence everyone from 3 worlds approached Lord Shiva for solution. Lord in return also sought the assistance Phralada.
Remember the entire incarnation of Lord was also due to Phralada's devotion to Lord. Demon King Hiranyakashipu was his father who tried,in vain, to kill his son.
Lord Shiva then took the form of "Lord Sarabheswara". After which he also created Amma Sri Maha Phratyiangra Devi.Amma then took away the dirty blood of demon from the system of Lord Narashimha. Child Phralada then approached Lord Narashimha with devotional prayers. ONLY then Lord's anger subsided.
Many do not know Amma Sri Maha Phratyiangra Devi.If readers can recollect the incident in Ramayana,during the war against Ravanna. His asura son(,,,or brother) went to a place of worship to perform a yagna to attain super power.The prayer was interrupted by Lakhsamana and Vanara army.
This is indeed temple of Amma near to Ayyavadi,about 0.5km from Oppilappan Temple.
This is absolute rubbish! The Sharabha story is not there in both the Vishnu Mahapuranam and the Srimad Bhagavatha Mahapuranam. Generations of Bhagavathars from Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshitar, Soolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, T R Kamala Murthy to Young Vishaka Hari haven't included this story in their discourses. According to the Bhagavatham, Goddess Lakshmi and Prahlada alone were able to pacify the lord. Neither Brahma nor Shiva or the Devas were able to do so. The Lord feels elated on seeing his bhakta. Also Muthuswami Dikshitar, a great composer and a Devi upasaka has made no reference to Sharabha in his Narasimha compositions, neither has Thyagaraja nor Annamacharya or the Haridasas. Adi Shankara has composed a Narasimha Karavalamba stotram which has no reference to Sharabha and in his Vishnu sahasranama bhashyam refers to Sharabha as "As the Lord shines in the body as the indwelling Self, He is called Sharabha, while the body is sara (perishable)."
The Sringeri and Kanchi mutts worship Narasimha and even celebrate Narasimha jayanthi. Sringeri has a shrine to Lakshmi Narasimha and not Sharabha.
To put it simply, Sharabha is a product of hardcore fanatic Shaivism.
I doesn't have a profil yet (so pardon my anonimity)
@Ragavendran
Narashima also not mentioned in Bible/Quran. doesnt its make it a rubbish?
From a thousand name of god in vedas, how many that said in bhagavatam puranas?
does that make veda a rubbish?
and how much narayana said in veda? does that make narayana a rubbish?
there is also a story when vishnu is decribed to be higher than other(shiva and brahma) and you dont think that is a rubbish? even when its not cross confirmed from any shaiva / brahmaism book.
fanatic use ear only heard what his own mouth says. Hindu learned by lessons, teach, books. you read some books, then reject the rest of the book, then you claim to be a Hindu? or even dare to judge other sect just by "some books"?
that is fanatic my friend.
shiva promoted in some, then vishnu promoted in some, its all usual. get use to it if you want to be a hindu. dont feel bad about it. if it is God, then claim like that should not matter tho HIM. and if you are a devotee, so you should know that its none of your bussiness,its nothing than your anger.
is that is a devotee?
pick the most well-written god that claim high to other?
is that why you became hindu? so you can say you higher than other religion brew?
626 Sharabha is mythical and has evolved over time. Sharabha has eight legs, lives in mountains, slays lions and lives on raw flesh. In later versions, sharabha is also described as an incarnation of Shiva's and in that form, Shiva tamed Vishnu's half-man and half-lion (Narasimha) incarnation.
====================
Mahabharata - Volume 3 - Page 153 - Google Books Result
books.google.co.in/books?isbn=0143100157
Bibek Debroy - 2012 - Epic poetry, Sanskrit
'“Ashtavakra replied, 'Eight shanas bear a hundred.625 Sharabha, the destroyer ofthe lion, has eight feet.626 We have heard that among the gods, there is a ...
=========================
http://hindumythologybynarin.blogspot.in/2012/11/sharabha-gandaberunda-pratyangira.html
Some persons write as if they know everything on earth. Knowledge is vast. We have to learn by study, observation and experience.
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated and will appear only after approval. If you like to contact me - hindublog@gmail.com.