Sharabha

Sharabha (Sanskrit: शरभ, Śarabha) or Sarabha is an eight-legged part-lion and part-bird beast in Hindu religion, who is described as more powerful than a lion or an elephant, possessing the ability to clear a valley in one jump in Sanskrit literature. In later literature, Sharabha is described as an eight-legged deer.

The Shaiva scriptures narrate that the god Shiva assumed the form of Sharabha to pacify Narasimha - the fierce man-lion avatar of Vishnu worshipped by the Vaishnava sect. This form is popularly known as Sharabeshvara ("Lord Sharabha") or Sharabheshvaramurti. The Vaishnavas refute the portrayal of Narasimha as being destroyed by Shiva-Sharabha and regard Sharabha as a name of Vishnu. Some Vaishnava scriptures suggest that Vishnu assumed the form of the ferocious Gandabherunda bird-animal to combat and killed Sharabha just like the narasimha killed Hiranyakahipu with his nails.

In Buddhism, Sharabha appears in Jataka Tales as an earlier 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.