Lord Shani is the deity of the planet Saturn, one of the Navagrahas in Vedic astrology. His birthday falls on Jyeshtha Amavasya or Vaishaka Amavasya, depending on the region. Amavasya is the new moon, and Jyeshtha corresponds to May-June, while Vaishaka corresponds to April-May in the Gregorian calendar. This day is celebrated by Hindus as Shani Jayanti. In 2022, Saturn Jayanthi will be on May 30.
Birth of Shani
Surya, the Sun god, is the father of Shani. His mother was Chhaya, who was actually the shadow of Surya’s wife, Sanjana. Sanjana could not bear Surya’s heat and brightness. So she went back to her parental home without Surya’s permission or knowledge. But she also left behind her shadow, Chhaya, to impersonate her before her husband.
Surya had 3 children with Chhaya. One among them was Shani. As he was born with a dark complexion, Surya felt that he was not the birth father and treated mother and son harshly. But the reason why Shani was dark had to do with Chhaya’s rigorous penance to please Lord Shiva. She ate very little and stood in the sun for hours, and this affected the child in her womb. Due to his father’s ill-treatment, Shani resented Surya. But later, Lord Shiva explained to Surya why Shani had a dark color.
Shani was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, and it was the latter who gave him the privileged position of the Lord of Karma and Justice. It is Shani’s task to offer rewards and punishments to human beings on earth. He does so after taking into account their good and bad deeds. If you perform good deeds, Shani rewards you. On the other hand, if you do evil deeds, he will make you suffer. This applies even to deeds committed in past births.
Saturn is also called the ‘servant’, and it is an old planet with no gender.
Is Shani a Malefic?
Though Shani is considered to be a malefic, he is more like a strict and disciplinarian teacher whose lessons may be harsh but good for us. In fact, they are the most important lessons in our life. Indeed, after enduring all the sufferings Shani inflicts on us, we will emerge as wiser, better, and more spiritual human beings. He is the divine alchemist who takes an impure metal and burns it in a blazing fire to produce pure gold. In this case, the impure metal is our own self. Shani just wants to put us on the right track so that we don’t go astray in life.
If Shani is not in a good position in your birth chart, it causes restrictions, limitations, obstacles, delays, and conflicts. In this way, it thwarts your success and makes you feel depressed and hopeless. Saturn period, Sade Sati, is much feared. It occurs once or twice in our lifetime. It comes once in 30 years and remains for 7.5 years. The first phase can be very severe and impact both our personal and professional lives.
Shani helps to balance your karma. You will get the results of your accumulated karma during the Saturn Dasha, Antardasha, Pratyandardasha, or Saturn transits like Dhaiiyya, Panoti, or Sade Sati.
Saturn is a stern ‘taskmaster’. The simplest way to please Saturn is to respect and worship time. Be punctual and adhere to schedules if your Saturn period is to be fruitful. Also, Saturn will give you what it has promised. However, as it moves slowly, its results, too, may come slowly. If you are patient and work hard, he will reward you.
Shani Jayanti Rituals
Observe a day-long fast.
Worship at Shani temples or Navagraha temples.
Perform Shani Pooja, Homam, Shani-tel-abishekam, and Shani Shanti Pooja.
Recite Shani Stotra or Shanti path.
Chant Shani Gayatri Mantra “Om Sanaischaraya vidhmahe Sooryaputraya dhimahi Tanno manda: Prachodyat”.
Do mustard oil Abishekam for Shani along with diya aarti.
Recite Hanuman Chalisa.
Give milk to dogs.
Donate food to poor people.
Feed roti to crows daily.
Serve blind people, servants, and scavengers.
Donate sesame, urad, iron, oil, buffalo, black cloth, black cow, and shoes.
By doing all this, you can appease Shani and invoke his blessings.
