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Shiva as Sharabha

Sharabha (Sanskrit: शरभ, Kannada: ಶರಭ, Śarabha) 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. Shaivite scriptures relate that god Shiva assumed the avatar (incarnation) of Sharabha in order to tame Narasimha, the fierce man-lion avatar of Vishnu. This manifestation is popularly known as Sharabeshwara ("Lord Sarabha") or Sharabeshwara-murti. The tale usually ends with the defeat of Narasimha and Vishnu becoming a devotee of Shiva.