Sharabh Avatar – Incarnation of Shiva to Calm Narsimha

Narsimha was the incarnation of Vishnu which He took to save his dear devotee Prahlad from the demon Hrinayakashipu.

Hrinayakashipu was a powerful demon who got the boon of not getting killed by man, animal, deity or demon. He can’t be killed in daytime or night time or with any weapon. He also can’t be killed inside or outside of house or in the sky or on earth.

Read Complete Story of Lord Shiva from Creation of World till birth of Kshem and Labh in single article.

Hrinayakashipu thought that he became invincible and immortal. He wanted to get treated as a God. But his own son, Prahlad, refused to accept him as God and became devotee of Narayana.

Hrinayakashipu tried to convince him but he didn’t listen. Furiously he tried to kill Prahlad but failed. He used many ways to end his life but every time Prahlad survived.

Sister of Hrinayakashipu, Holika, got a boon of remain unaffected from fire. She sat into fire with Prahlad, but got burned and Prahlad survived unharmed.

Narsimha Came Out of Pillar

Furious Hrinayakashipu asked Prahlad where his Narayana is? Prahald replied that Narayana is everywhere. Hrinayakashipu asked if He is in the pillar? Prahlad replied, Yes.

To prove Prahlad wrong, Hrinayakashipu broke the pillar. A scary creature appeared from pillar. His head was of lion but body was of man. He was roaring with anger. This was the Narsimha avatar of Vishnu.

Narsimha killed Hrinayakashipu

Narsimha lied Hrinayakashipu down on his lap and sat on the boundary of palace which wasn’t inside or outside. It was the evening time and neither daytime nor night time. Narsimha wasn’t an animal or a man. He used his nails and burst the stomach of Hrinayakashipu and killed him.

Narsimha Blessed Prahlad

Prahlad sung a prayer to please Narsimha. Delighted with the devotion of his dear devotee, Narsimha promised him that He will not kill any of his 22 descendants in future. Because of this promise, Narayana couldn’t kill Banasur.

Sharabh Avatar of Shiva

After killing Hrinayakashipu, Narsimha got out of control. He started destroying everything. He swallowed planetary objects.

When Saptarishi saw the destruction, they requested Narsimha to stop but He didn’t listen. In anger, Saptarishi cursed him that, “You are the moderator of this world. Your duty is to protect it and not destroy it. No one can break laws of nature. Not even Trinity God. So, we Saptarishi, curse you as like as today you are swallowing this world, one day someone will swallow you too.”

Later a demon Nigas swallowed Vishnu which broke Trinity Gods.

Read the story of demon Nigas, who swallowed Narayan. How world ran without Vishnu? Click to know.

Since Narsimha was out of control, Shiva took Sharabh Avatar and fought with Him. When He got tired, Shiva reminded Him about His identity. Because of this incarnation, Shiva is also known as Sharbheshwar.

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Why Nigas swallowed Narayan? Story of Lohitang.

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References & Sources

Mythquest: Narsimha by Anu Kumar

Narsimha the lion man by R. Suryanarayanan