Prostrations to Shri Ravinandana, by whose unfavourable position
Gods, demons, celestial beings, celestial musicians, wisdom-teachings masters
And even celestial snakes succumb to sufferings. 

Prostrations to Shri Ravinandana, who manifests in the subtle form before the yogis
Who meditate up on him at any holy bank of confluence
Of two rivers - Yamuna and Saraswati, or in a cave.

Prostrations to Shri Ravinandana, who is the creator of three worlds,
Who is the self-manifested being, who is Hari the protector,
And Pinakin (Shiva) the destroyer - all in one,
As well as the embodiment of the three-fold Vedas - Rig, Yajur and Sama.

Astronomical facts

        Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is also the second largest planet, with a radius of 37,366 miles. It is said to have a small core of rock and iron, then a layer of ice and lastly topped by a deep layer of liquid hydrogen.

        Saturn is different from other known planets for the rings it has. No planet in this solar system has rings like Saturn does. The rings consist of small pieces of ice and rock, are 62,000 kilometers wide but just 100 meters thick. The rings are actually made of thousands of closely spaced ringlets, looking like a gramophone record disk.

        Saturn has 22 known natural satellites, more than any other planet does.

Vedic Astrological view

        From the Vedic point of view, the physical Saturn is only a representation of Sani Dev / Shanaischaram (Saturn God). By the movement of the physical Saturn, we understand the intention of Saturn God (Sani) about us. Saturn God is the natural ruler of karma, and to understand our karma, we must first understand Sani.

        Sani is one of the three children of Sun and Chaya Devi. From the Vedic texts, we can learn a lot about Sani. Many times the power of his gaze have been mentioned in the classics. We learn that right after Sani was born, his gaze caused Sun's charioteer to fall down and break his thigh; Sun's horses to get blind; and Sun himself caught vitiligo for Sani's powerful gaze on him. They were healed only when Sani moved his gaze away and looked at somewhere else.

        This clarifies the power which Sani has in his gaze.

        In Jyotish, Sani is considered a very malefic planet. The nine planets are the incarnation of Lord to bestow us the result of our karma - which are the lessons we need to learn. And most of the times, the toughest lessons are taught by Sani. In our school, we always have different teachers for different subjects like Math, Physics, Language etc. Just like that, different planets teach us different kind of lessons, and most of the times the teacher Sani teaches us very painful lessons. This is not something to doubt when we learn from the BPHS that Sani is the natural giver of grief.

        In general, Sani is considered the most malefic planet, and the most problematic, painful yogas involve Sani most of the times. When Sani maleficly affect something, he slows the matter down, and causes obstructions and delays in it's fruitfulness. Sani also rules separation, he hurts us by taking things away from us. When we face a painful separation from our parents, spouse, friends or anyone we care for, Sani is always a possibility for that. Ketu also causes separation as he rules non-attachment, but separations and delays are among the main significations of Sani. He's association with Venus / 7th lord causes separation from spouse most of the times. Though the final comment should be made seeing Sani's strength, placement and lordship, as for Taurus and Libra natives Sani is a functional benefic being a Yoga karaka. But even then Sani will not forget to remind his nature sometimes. That is my personal view on this.

        Sani is a planet of Tamasic quality. He is a planet of extreme nature. When he favours someone, he gives very favourable effects. Oppositely, when anyone receives his curse, indescribable pain and miseries he or she faces in life. Sani purifies a person by giving immense sorrow and pain, as fire purifies the gold.

        Favourable effects of Sani on one's nature include in-depth knowledge, sensibility, wisdom, justice, broadness of mind, honesty, patience, ability to work hard etc. In life, he may give wealth, fortune, long life etc. when auspicious and well placed.

        On the other hand, when badly afflicting a person's nature, Sani can make one sadistic, greedy, lazy, dishonest, fearful, irresponsible and even addicted to drugs. Sani causes obstruction, delay, grief, poverty, short life etc. He makes a person totally lonely, helpless and can make one suffer from enmity, theft, lawsuits etc. Sani can also give imprisonment since he rules obstruction, loneliness and grief.

        When causing diseases, Sani generally gives chronic diseases as the person suffers for a long time - by this he again shows his nature of slowness and delays.

        When badly effecting one's profession, Sani makes one work very hard but does not give the proper reward he deserves. That is why social servants and people who earn their living by physical labour are ruled by Sani. For the same reason Sani rules the Sudras (4th caste) and abodes in filthy places.

        For the power of his gaze, Sani has a tremendous afflicting ability by his mere aspects, which he casts on 3rd, 7th and 10th houses from his own position.

        Among other planets used in Vedic Astrology, Saturn is the last one counted from Sun's position. That is why Sani Dev rules 'The last' or 'The end' of anything. He is the 'Last Answer' in anything. In our material world, death is the end of everything, and that is why, Sani rules death and longevity issues. He is the natural significator of 8th house in astrology. We know that 8th house deals with sorrows, shock, pains, depressions and also - occult. That is why Sani also deals with Magic, Tantra, Jyotish etc.

        Sani was lamed by another son of the Sun, named Yama (God of death) when he hit Sani in his leg. So Sani is always very slow in his movement. One name of Sani, as I already mentioned, is 'Shanaischaram' which means the slow mover. He takes around 2.5 years to pass through a sign, thus he takes around 30 years to complete the travel over the whole zodiac. So he rules slowness and delays; And he teaches us how to tolerate slowness and delays, by patience. He is generally pleased with people having patience.

        The great phase (Maha Dasha) of Sani lasts for 19 years. Even than the Maha Dasha, Sani gets the strong hold of a person by his transit over the 12th, 1st and 2nd signs from his or her natal Moon. This is called 'Sade Sati' since it lasts for about 7.5 years.

        Sani lords over the signs Capricorn (Makara) and Aquarius (Kumbha) with Aquarius being his Mooltrikona sign. He is exalted in Libra and debilitated in Aries. His natural friends are Mercury, Venus and Rahu, while enemies are Sun, Moon, Mars and Ketu. He has neutral relationship with Deva Guru Jupiter. He is ruler of the three nakshatras named Pushya (8), Anuradha (17) and Uttara Bhadrapada (26). He rules 8 in the numbers, Saturday in the weekdays, and aqua, blue and black in colours. His favourite gemstone is blue sapphire wearing which strengthens Sani's effect on a person.

        The pacification ways of Sani Dev include donation of black clothes, mustard oil, black daal, sesame etc. to the poor and helping and serving the old and needy people since Sani signifies all these. Maha Rishi Parasara suggests donating a black cow or feeding Brahmins with rice cooked with powder of sesame seeds to appease Sani Dev. Sani Dev is a great Devotee of Lord Krishna that is why it has been said that Sani Dev does not create problems to people who worships Lord Krishna (Esp. on Saturdays). It should be also mentioned that Krishna is also a name of Sani Dev. Sani Dev is also appeased if one recites Sani Stotram. The Stotram with audio can be obtained from here. There are a lot of other ways to appease Sani Dev, like using an old horse shoe, iron nails collected from boats etc. and a whole website can be devoted to this. Like other remedies the remedies to Sani would also depend on the chart itself and that is why it is the best to consult a knowledgeable Vedic Astrologer for this. The remedies should be obtained with utmost caution.

        May Shani Dev be pleased with us and grant us knowledge, peace and happiness.

Tanvir Chowdhury,
10th May, 2003,
Dhaka, Bangladesh.



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