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{{italic title}}
{{Infobox Upanishad
| name = ''Sharabha Upanishad''
| image = Munneswaram_Sharabha.jpg
| caption = Sharabha Upanishad describes Sharabha
| alt =
| Devanagari = शरभ
| Sanskrit_transliteration =
| meaning = Part lion and part bird.
| composition_date =
| authors = Sage Pippalada
| type = Shaiva
| Veda = Atharva veda
| chapters = 1
| verses = 35 plus prologue and epilogue<ref>[http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_upanishhat/sharabha.html?lang=sa शरभोपनिषत्], Sharabha Upanishad, Archived by Sanskritdocuments.org</ref>
}}
{{Saivism}}
The '''''Sharabha Upanishad''''' ({{lang-sa|शरभ उपनिषत्}}, [[IAST]]: Sharabha Upaniṣad) is a minor [[Upanishads]] of the [[Atharva Veda]]. In a [[Telugu language]] [[anthology]] of 108 Upanishads of the [[Muktika]] in the modern era, narrated by [[Rama]] to [[Hanuman]], it is listed at serial number 50. The Upanishad is not part of the anthology of 52 popular Upanishads in north India by Colebrooke, nor is it found in the ''Bibliotheca Indica'' anthology of popular Upanishads in south India by Narayana.{{Sfn|Deussen|Bedekar|Palsule|1997|pp=561-564}} It is one of the 13 [[Saiva|Shaiva Upanishads]].{{Sfn|Deussen|Bedekar|Palsule|1997|pp=556–57}}{{Sfn|Nair|2008|p=580}}

The Upanishad eulogizes Lord [[Shiva]] as the Lord of the world who incarnates as [[Sharabha]] – a human-lion-bird version, to confront the human-lion [[Narasimha]] avatar of [[Vishnu]], when Narasimha becomes destructive.<ref name= Ramachander/>

The text is also called as the "Pippaladadharmasastra," as an exposition of the knowledge by Lord [[Brahma]] to sage [[Pippalada]].{{Sfn|Desai1996|p=109}}{{Sfn| Camājam| Perumanram|1979|p=180}} Its title is also spelled as '''Sarabha Upanishad''' or '''Sharabhopanishad'''.

==Contents==
The Upanishad, after an initial prayer offering to [[Indra]], [[Garuda]], and [[Brihaspati]] seeking prosperity and peace to all, extols Lord Shiva or [[Mahesvara]], in the first two verses as original God, creator of [[Brahma]], [[Vishnu]] and other [[divinities]], as governs the world, as the chief architect of the [[Vedas]] who conveyed it to Brahma, who dismantled the universe at the great flood, and was the Lord of Lords.{{Sfn|Nair|2008|p=422}}<ref name= Ramachander>{{Cite web|last= Ramachander|first= P. R. |url=http://www.celextel.org/upanishads/atharva_veda/sarabha.html|title=Sarabha Upanishad|access-date=2 December 2015|publisher= Vedanta Spiritual Library}}</ref>

In the third verse of the Upanishad the narration is of Shiva incarnating as Sarabha, in the form of a fierce anthropomorphic combination of eagle, lion, and man. Sarabha slays [[Narasimha]], an incarnation of Vishnu, because he was causing destruction in the world.<ref name= Ramachander/> According to the [[Puranas]], ''Sarabha'' was one of Shiva's sixty four [[avatar]]s (forms), to assist the heavenly devas and the human beings.{{Sfn|Camājam| Perumanram|1979|p=179}}

In the fourth verse, the Upanishad states that after killing Narasimha with his claws, Sarabha wore its hide as his attire and came to be called Veera Bhadra. In the fifth verse Sarabha cuts the fifth head of Brahma, and in the sixth verse He fells [[Kāla (time)|Kala]] (time), the God of death, with his feet. He consumes [[Halahala]], the poison that was created along with ''Amrita'' (nectar of immortality), during cosmic creation through the [[Samudra manthan|churning of the ocean]].{{Sfn|Nair|2008|p=422}}<ref name= Ramachander/>

In the seventh verse, Shiva, pleased with the veneration of Vishnu, gifts him with the [[Chakra]] (holy wheel) – the iconography commonly found in one of the hands of Vishnu [[murti]]s. In the last three verses, the Upanishad assures the efficacy of Shiva to burn all sins away if they are caused and perpetuated by others.<ref name= Ramachander/>

{{Quote|
The one, who has crossed sorrows, sees that God, who is atom within an atom, gross among the gross, who as [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] hidden in the heart of beings and who is beyond physical action, clearly because of these reasons. Salutations to that Rudra who is the greatest god, who holds the Soola (trident spear) in his hand, who has a big swallowing mouth, who is the Maheswara and whose blessing has good effects.
|Sharabha Upanishad 7–8|<ref name= Ramachander/>}}

Maheshwara's incarnation as Sarabha signifies Paramatman, combining all facets of body, mind and jeeva. Narration of the Upanishad, states the text, gives Moksha or salvation.<ref name= Rama/>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last1= Camājam |first1=Cen̲n̲ai Caiva Cittānta Makā|last2= Perumanram|first2=Saiva Siddhanta |title=Saiva Siddhanta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhcnAQAAIAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Saiva Siddhanta Mahasamajam}}
*{{cite book|last= Desai |first=S. G. |title=A critical study of the later Upanishads|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnrXAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|isbn=9788172760779 }}
*{{cite book|last1= Deussen |first1=Paul |last2= Bedekar|first2=V.M. |last3= Palsule |first3=G.B. |title=Sixty Upanishads of the Veda|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYepeIGUY0gC&pg=PA976|date=1 January 1997|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1467-7}}
*{{cite book|last= Nair |first=Shantha N. |title=Echoes of Ancient Indian Wisdom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OzFvE0IR7rkC&pg=PT580|date=1 January 2008|publisher=Pustak Mahal|isbn=978-81-223-1020-7}}

{{Mukhya Upanishads}}
{{Shaivism}}

[[Category:Upanishads]]
[[Category:Sanskrit texts]]

Sharabha Upanishad - Revision history

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