Shani

Shani (also spelled Sani) शनि is one of the nine Navagraha or primary celestial beings in Hindu astrology (that is, Vedic astrology), 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: (शनये क्रमति सः) i.e. the one who moves slowly. Saturn takes about 30 years to revolve around the Sun, thus it moves slowly enough compared to other planets, thus the Sanskrit name.

He is also known as Sanaiscarya शनैश्वर,शनैश्चर, Shani Bhagavan, Shaneesvara, Saneesvara, Saneesvaran, Shani Deva, etc...

Shani is actually a demi-god and is a son of Surya, the (Hindu deity of the sun). 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 (horoscope).

In Hindu astrology, a favourably-placed Shani on the horoscope of a person stands for a strong career, healthy life and everything positive for that person. In fact, a well-placed Shani in one's horoscope is something every astrology-believing Hindu hopes for, as no other 'graha' can bestow what a favourable Shani can. Shani placed "unfavourably", on the other hand, denotes troubles in all of the above. Saneesvara is much feared by those Hindus who believe in astrology, as the "malefic" effects of his being unfavourably placed can be quite severe.

However, it is to be remembered that any pleasure or pain that befalls a person during Saneesvara's influence is not Saneesvara's arbitrary doing; rather, it is the result of the person's own karma, now being manifested in the "presence" of Saneesvara. Thus an "unfavourably-placed" Shani brings about the harsh results of one's bad karma, and vice-versa.

Shani is considered to be a stern teacher who represents patience, effort, endeavour, and endurance; he is not the one who gets carried away by platitudes like the careless and/or insincere chanting of mantras or the performance of rituals without sincerity and/or faith. He forces people to be disciplined, and to understand that one needs to be humble, focussed, patient, and hardworking to achieve success.

Since most Hindus fear Lord Shani, they prefer not to approach him alone directly; rather they turn to God, in His various Forms, for relief.

Effects of Shani

According to Hindu astrology, there are nine grahas (including Sun as one of them) and there are 12 rashis or sunsigns. The planet Shani or Saturn revolves around the Sun in about 30 years. That means, it passes through all the 12 constellations in 30 years. Thus Shani spends on an average about 30/12 = 2.5 years i.e. two and half years in each rashi or sunsign. This movement of Shani through the sunsigns has a lot of importance in the hindu astrology and horoscope predictions. In hindu astrology, a person has a specific rashi/sunsign assigned to him which is determined from his birth date, time and location. The effect of Shani starts when it enters the penultimate rashi/sunsign and the effect stops when it leaves the next rashi/sunsign. Thus the total period of 2.5 years in the previous rashi + 2.5 years in own rashi + 2.5 years in the next rashi equaling 7.5 years total. This period of 7.5 years is called Saadesaati, and the person faces lot of difficulties during this period of his life. It is believed that Shri Shani-maharaj makes sure that the person who faces difficulties and goes through this period comes out as a very wise person indeed very well aware of most of the dire experiences of life. This period teaches that person many things important in his life. This is another way to make that person humble and be respectful rather than otherwise.

This may be the reason why Shri Shani-Maharaj is feared by most. The great story of his life is described in Shri Shani Mahatmya ॥श्रीशनिमहात्म्य॥ written several centuries ago and is still read.

Shri Shani Mahatmya

The story of Shani Mahatmya is a very fascinating story depicting the importance of Shri Shani-deva and how difficult devotion service is required to please him and get his krupa (blessings) on you. The book starts with describing the importance of various planets and their strengths. These are told by the scholars serving king Vikramaditya's court from the city of Ujjain. The description of Shani comes as: He has a dark complexion, his face is beautiful, he is lame (defective feet), his caste is teli (Oil vendors) and he prays Kal-bhairav. After listening to the birth story of Shani, Vikramaditya laughed and ridiculed Shani for what he did. Shani-dev heard the remarks of Vikramaditya and cursed him. The rest of the story is how Vikramaditya faces difficulties and problems worse than the ones he could imagine. He loses his kingdom, he is charged with stealing, his both hands and legs are cut-off by King Chandrasen of Tamlinda town. He is helped by a teli of that town and this oil vendor brings him home. But Vikramaditya still prays Shani-dev without losing his temper or faith in Shani-dev, who eventually is satisfied with Vikramaditya's devotion and brings him back all the lost glory. In fact Shani-dev makes him even better and greater than what he was or had before. The last part of the book describes various experiences faced by various gods, demons and sages, including Brihaspati (the Guru of gods) and Shiva et al. The story esssentially stresses the values such as, perseverance in difficult times, complete devotion and faith in the values one believes in or one follows and never to lose his/her confidence in life in spite of lot of difficulties. The Marathi version of this is possibly written by Shri Tatyaji Mahipati, however, nothing more is known about this

Shani and Hanuman

The worship of Lord Hanuman is a panacea for the harsh effects of the 'unfavourable' presence of Lord Shani. In the Ramayana, Lord Hanuman is said to have rescued Shani from the clutches of Ravana and in gratitude, Shani promised Hanuman that anyone who prayed to Him (Hanuman), especially on Saturdays, would be rescued from the "malefic" effects of Saturn, or at the very least, the effects would be softened.

Another version of the encounter between Lord Hanuman and Shani is that once Shani climbed on to Hanuman's shoulder, implying that Shani's influence was beginning on Lord Hanuman. At this, Hanuman assumed a large size, and Shani was caught painfully between Hanuman's shoulders and the ceiling of the room they were in. As the pain was unbearable, Shani requested Lord Hanuman to release him, promising in return, that if a person prayed to Lord Hanuman, he (Shani) would moderate the malefic effects of his influence on that person if not all together have no malefic influence on the person; following this, Lord Hanuman released Shani.

Ways to please Sri Shani-Maharaj

Also it is said that Shaneeswara Swamy is a very great devotee of Lord Shiva. As mentioned in the "Navagraha Pidahara Sthothram" of "Brahmanda Purana", anybody who chants the following sthothra is relieved from all the ill-effects of Shaneeshwara Swamy placed in bad houses.

Suryaputhro Deerghadeho Vishaalaakshah Shivapriyah | Mandachaarah Prasannathmaa peedam harathu me Shanih ||

सूर्य पुत्रो दीर्घ देहो विशालाक्षः शिवप्रियः। मन्दचारः प्रसन्नात्मा पीडां हरतु मे शनिः ॥

One who prays to Lord Vishnu is protected from Shani as he is said to be a great devotee of Vishnu. (It is interesting to note that Hanuman Himself was devoted to Lord Rama, an avatar of Vishnu).

It is also a wide spread belief that one who is an ardent devotee of Lord SriLakshmiNarasimha Swamy or Lord Venkateswara (Balaji) is is also always protected by Sri Shani Maharaj.

Shrines for Lord Shani

In several parts of India, there are clusters of nine temples/shrines dedicated to the Navagrahas. One such cluster is located near the town Kumbakonam in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Lord Shani's shrine in this cluster is located at Tirunallar. It is a Temple dedicated to Lord Darbaranyesvara, a Form of Lord Shiva, in which Lord Shani is located in a niche in a wall. At this Temple, Lord Shani is considered to be of benevolent nature.

Another important Shrine for Lord Shani is in Shingnapur, in Maharashtra, India. The deity self emerged from the earth in form of stone block and was found by shepherds. When they touched stone with a pointed rod the stone began bleeding. The shepherds were astounded and one night one shepherd got a dream that the deity was Lord Shani. To this day, due to fear of Shani, houses within a 1 km radius of the Shani temple do not have locks. No thefts happen in this place. Some who have tried to steal have received punishment (sickness, mental harassment) from Shani.

Another Shani temple is Shani Dhaam, at Fatehpur Beri, about 6KMs from Chhattarpur temple & 16kms from the Qutub Minar, at Mehrauli, South Delhi, India.

Shani in Jainism

Shani and Lord Munisuvarat (20th jain tirthankar)

One who prays to Lord Munisuvarat is protected from Shani as he is great devotee of Lord Munisuvarat Swami (20th jain tirthankar) as per Jainism & really one can trace from ancient times people worshiping Munisuvarat Swami whose symbol is Tortoise to get protected from ill effects of not properly placed shani in ones horoscope.

Usually Munisuvarat Swamis idol is always found made up of Black colour. Millions of devotees across the world have witnessed miracles of Munisuvarat swami who appeared approx. 10,000 years ago as 20th jain tirthankar.

At Kankali Tila in Mathura a deity of Muni-Suvrat Swami whose insignia is tortoise, was discovered. One of the nude statues in Mohan-Jodaro (Indus Valley ) has the tortoise insignia, which indicates that it must be of Muni-Suvrat Swami. In Vedic history there are descriptions of a Muni in the Puran, connected to the tortoise, which throws light on Muni Suvrat. In the Rigved (23, 27, 32) a sage with tortoise insignia has been mentioned which is none other than Tirthankar Muni-Suvrat Swami. It connection with the tortoise the Puran (40, 27, 41) writes that Vishnu appeared in the form of tortoise in Rishabh race ( First Tirthankar).

See also

• Navagraha

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