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Shani is one of the Navagraha which are the nine primary celestial beings in Hindu astrology, or Jyoti. Shani is embodied in the planet Saturn. Shani is the Lord of Saturday; the word Shani also denotes the seventh day or Saturday in most Indian languages.
The origin of word Shani comes from the following: Shanaye Kramati SA: i.e. the one who moves slowly, as Saturn takes about 30 years to rotate around the Sun. Lord Shani is also known by various names.
Listen to Shani Dev Ashtottara Shatnamavali ( 108 Names of Shani ) .
Shani is a Deva and son of Surya (the Hindu Sun God) and his wife Chhaya (Shadow goddess) and hence also known as Chayyaputra. He is the cousin of Yama, the Hindu God of death. It is said that when he opened his eyes as a baby for the very first time, the sun went into an eclipse, which clearly denotes the impact of Shani on astrological charts. He is known as the greatest teacher. Shani dev is said to be very harmful to those who follow the path of betrayal, backstabbing and unjust revenge. He is known in Hindu scriptures as the greatest trouble giver as well as the greatest well-wisher. He is depicted dark in color, clothed in black; holding a sword, arrows and two daggers and variously mounted on a black vulture or a raven.
Birth of Lord Shani and Signifiance of Shani in Our Lives
In our routine lives, there is a great importance for the kindness and the power of God Shani. Shani occupies the seventh place among the nine planets which govern the world. This is viewed as unlucky in conventional astrology. As per ‘Kaagol Shastra’, the distance of Shani from the earth is 9 crore miles. Its radius is about one billion and 82 crore and 60 lakh kilometers. And its gravitational force is 95 times higher than that of the earth. Planet Shani takes 19 years to complete one revolution around the Sun. The astronauts have viewed the Shani’s colors as beautiful, strong, influencing and eye-catching. It has twenty two satellites in its ring.
Shani’s gravitational power is more than that of the Earth’s. Therefore, when we think good or bad thoughts and make plans, they reach Shani by the strength of his power. In astrological terms, the bad influence is considered as unlucky. But the result of good deeds will be good. Therefore, we must understand God Shani as a friend and not as foe. And for bad deeds, he is Sade Saati, disaster and an enemy.
As regards the birth of Shani, there are different stories. Foremost and accepted is the one in the ancient ‘Scanda Purana’ of Kasi Khanda which is as follows.
God Soorya was married to Daksha Kanya Sadnya. Sadnya could not tolerate the radiance of God Surya. She used to feel that by doing penance she could increase her brilliance. Or, by the power of her penance, she could diminish the glare of God Surya. But for God Surya, she was a spouse worshipping wife. From God Surya, she had three children. One was Vaivastahva Manu. The second was Yama Raj. And the third was Yamuna. Sadnya loved her children very much. But, she was very upset with the radiance of God Surya. One day, she thought that she would separate from God Surya, go to her parents’ home and undertake great penance. And if there was opposition, she would go far away to a lonely and undertake great penance.
By strength of her penance, Sadnya created a ‘Chaya’ (shadow) of herself and named her Suvarna. And, and then the shadow of herself became Suvarna. After handing over the children to Chaya, Sadnya told her that Chaya would thereafter play the role of womanhood and nurse her three children. She told her if any problem arose, she should call her and she would come rushing to her. But she cautioned her that she must remember that she was Chaya, not Sadnya, and nobody should know this difference.
Sadnya handed over her responsibilities to Chaya and went away to her parents’ place. She went home and told her father that she could not stand the radiance of God Surya. And therefore, without telling her husband she had come away. Listening to this, her father scolded her very much and told her that without being called, if the daughter returns home, both her and her father would be cursed. He told her to go back to her home immediately. Then, Sadnya began to worry that if she went back, what would happen to the responsibilities which she had given to Chaya. Where would Chaya go? And their secret would be exposed. So, Sadnya went to the dense jungles in Uttar Kurukshetra and took repose there.
She was fearful of her safety in the jungle because of her youthfulness and beauty. And she changed her form into that of a mare so that none could recognize her and started her penance. Elsewhere, the union of God Surya and Chaya begot three children. God Surya and Chaya were happy with each other. Surya never doubted anything. The children of Chaya were Manu, God Shani and Putri Bhadra (Tapti).
As per the second story, the creation of God Shani was the result of Maharishi Kashyap’s great ‘yagna’. When God Shani was in the womb of Chaya, Shiv Bhaktini Chaya was so engrossed in penance of God Shiva that she did not care for her food even.
She prayed so intensely during her penance that the prayers had a profound influence on the child in her womb. As a result of such a great penance of Chaya, without food and shade in the blazing sun, the complexion of God Shani became black. When God Shani was born, Surya was surprised to see his dark complexion. He began to doubt Chaya. He insulted Chaya by saying that this was not his son.
From birth itself, God Shani had inherited the great powers of his mother’s penance. He saw that his father was insulting his mother. He saw his father with a cruel gaze. As a result his father’s body was charred black. The horses of God Surya’s chariot stopped. The chariot would not move. Worried, God Surya called out to God Shiva. God Shiva advised God Surya and explained to him about what had happened. That is, because of him the respect of mother and child had been tarnished and insulted. God Surya accepted his fault and apologized. And regained his earlier glorious looks and the power of his chariot’s horses. Since then, God Shani became a good son to his father and mother and an ardent disciple of God Shiva.
Listen to Shani Dev Chalisa
What is Shani Sade Sati?
Shani Sade Sati has many names such as Shani Sade Sati, Shanichari, Musibathi, Aafath etc. Nature is well understood by the science of astrology. Astrology has many branches such as Vedic Astrology, Industrial astrology, personal astrology etc. In these branches of astrology, the study of Rasi and the effect of planets have an important place. In the science of astrology, all the aspects of life are affected by the combination of planets in a group. Every planet is attributed with a special role. Happiness and sorrow play hide and seek in man’s life. In some people’s lives there is more happiness as there is more unhappiness in some people’s lives. The attaining of ‘moksha’ is the ultimate goal of man’s life.
In the astro-charts of many astrological texts planet Shani has been given the place of the planet of sorrow. This may be true only up to an extent and in certain aspects. It is shown that God Shani, soon after his birth, showed a glimpse of his nature to his father God Surya. God Shani, who symbolizes righteousness and justice, creates Sade Saati.
Sade Sati is a period of 7 and ½ years. Shani takes 30 years to traverse all the 12 planets. He stays 2 and ½ years in one ‘rasi’ or sun sign. When the planet, aspects the lord of the house, then the good benefits are derived. In the garland of planets, God Shani is called ‘Chaya Martand’. When ‘Chaya Grah’ or the star passes through a house, that star sign’s previous star’s sign and the next star sign is troubled. That is ‘Chaya Grah’. This belief is accepted in Sade Sati. When Shani passes through the 12th house of the birth chart for the second time, then it is called as Sade Sati. Shani stays in a house for 2 and ½ years. This way, God Shani’s transit through 3 houses is called Sade Sati. (2 and ½ x 3= 7and ½). Therefore, this patch of 7and1/2 years is known to bring suffering, sorrows and misfortune. This is known by people as Sade Saati.
In Sade Sati, a great deal of misery, trouble, fearsome disease, excess sorrow, loss of money, blame, insult, illness, imprisonment etc are undergone. By taking the help of ‘Vedic Vidhi’ and the mantras, penance etc the fearful effects of Sade Sati can be reduced. In brief, Sade Sati or seven and half years of God Shani put the normal life of man into great distress. This is the direct result of Sade Sati that normal, ongoing work comes to a standstill. The desire of students to study goes away. And people who are looking for a job go further on and on in this quest
Shani’s Sade Sati troubled many brave and strong kings, but they never let go of truth. Sade Sati gave them too much trouble but it could destroy them. Raja Harish Chandra did not abandon truth till the end. Only then, God Shani was pleased, restored him to the throne and gave him progeny, wealth and made him pure again. He gave him the strength to do penance.
When one is affected by Sade Sati, one should make use of prayer as a boatman and cross the river of bad times. One should resort to falsehood, theft. Robbery, vices, bad habits etc in one’s life. One should remember that there is no role of God Shani in Sade Sati. He cleanses us of the sins of our previous births and brings us closer to the divinity of Ishwar. During the period of Sade Sati, if we take the help of our own prayers, penance and ‘mantras’ and hold on to truth, then it will have been worth it.
The cure for Sade Sati
Shani Dev Maha Mantra
“Om nilanjana samabhasam | Ravi putram yamagrajam ||
Cahaya martanda samhubhutam | Tama namami Shanescharam||”
The person who has Sade Saati should recite Shani Mahamantra 23000 times within the 7 and ½ years. Shani Mahamantra’s recital should finish within 23 days. Thus, by reciting the Shani Mahamantra by a ‘mala’ ten times a day, it will finish in 23 days. If the person is young, then his parents can do it for him. While this praying is on, the person should eat simple food. He must sleep on the floor on a bed sheet and live the life of a ‘bramhachari’. It should be remembered that the praying of the Shani Mahamantra should be done at one stretch in one sitting at one place. Whoever wants to perform the ‘shanti’, must perform it on all Shanichari Amavahshya’. On a half meter of black cloth, taking the ‘pandraya yantra’, the ‘sindoor’ of God Hanuman and oil should be mixed and the ‘yantra’ should be created. After tying a coconut without water in it, by tracing the body’s length with it seven times, it should be consigned to flowing water.
