In year 2017 (1939 Hemalambi) Shani Jayanti is marked on Thursday 25 May 2017. Shani Jayanti is marked as birth anniversary of Lord Shani. Shani Jayanti is also known as Shani Amavasya. Lord Shani is son of Lord Surya and rules planet Saturn and Saturdays. It is believed that Lord Shani believes in fair justice and if appeased blesses His devotee with good luck and fortune. People, who don’t have blessing of Lord Shani, toil for years without getting any reward for their hard work in life. In this message on 2017 day of Shani Jayanti, we bring Sanaischarashtakam and Shani stotra (Dashrath krut).
Sanaischarashtakam
(The octet on the slow moving planet)
by King Dasaratha,
translation by P.R. Ramachander
Introduction
Planet Saturn has many names: Sani (the slow one) aka Sanaischara (the one who moves slowly) aka Saneeswara (The god who is slow) is the planet Saturn among the nine planets of the Vedic astronomy. He is the son of Surya and Chaya and is the only planet with the epithet Iswara (god). This makes Saturn the only planet who is referred to as divinity.
Saneeswara takes 30 years to make a full round of the Sun and so he becomes the slowest among the planets. This is ascribed to the fact that he was made lame by his half brother Yama (God of death)(note: Yama is also the God of Dharma). He is the indicator of longevity, diseases, death, base actions, reason for death, danger, slavery and wealth of cattle in the horoscope.
He is described as one with very hard hair, of black colour, phlegmatic, one with thick strong teeth, one having red eyes, one with base character, slow witted, lazy and well proportioned. Among the 12 signs, Saturn is the owner of Capricorn and Aquarius (Makara and Kumbha rasi) and Saturn is powerless in Aries (Mesha rasi) and extremely powerful in the sign of Libra (Thula rasi).
Planet Venus (Shukra) and Mercury (Budha) are his friends, Jupiter is his equal, and the Sun, Moon, and Mars (Kuja) are his enemies. He is also referred as Manda, Kona, Bhaskari, Arki and Suryputra in astrological literature. He takes 30 months for moving from one rasi to another. He gives rise to bad effects when he is standing in the sign of the birth Moon, and the sign before and after this sign. This period is called Sade Sathi in Hindi and Ezharai nattu sani in Tamil. During this seven and half year period, the period when it is within the sign of the Moon at birth is the worst period. In a person’s life, there is a possibility of this seven and half period coming three times: the first called mangu sani, the second called pongu sani and the third called marano (pokku) sani.
Another challenging period is when Sani resides in the 8th house from Moon. The mental confusion it causes may even make one mad. Other signs where Sturn is considered to have malefic effects are the 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th signs from the Moon. This would mean that Saturn has benefic effects – does good – for only 5 years during his transit of the twelve signs, which takes 30 years.
To please Sani it is necessary either to pray him, or his friend Hanuman or Lord Ayappa of Sabari Malai or to light gingelly lamps in front of him on Saturdays or to give a copper pot full of gingelly oil as dhana to a Brahmin after seeing once own image in that oil. Here is a great prayer addressed to him written by King Dasaratha, the father of Lord Rama. All people suffering in any trouble caused by Saturn are requested to recite this prayer regularly on Saturdays.
Sanaischarashtakam
Kono anthako roudhra yamo adha babru,
Krishna sani pingala manda souri,
Nithyam smrutho yo harathe cha peedaam,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who if remembered daily,
As the lame one, the one who decides the end,
The one who is very angry, the one keeps himself under control,
The one who has hair like lion, the one who is black,
The one who is Sani, the one who is of copper colour, the one who is slow
And as the son of Sun God , destroys all our problems.
Surasura kimpurushoragendra,
Gandahrawa vidhyadhara pannagascha,
Peedyanthi sarve vishamasthithena,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who creates problems, if in bad position,
Even to devas, asuras, very great men, nagas,
Even to Gandharwas, vidhyadharas and snakes
Nara narendra pasavo mrugendra,
Vanyascha ye keeta pathanga brunga,
Peedynthi sarve vishama sthithena,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who creates problems, if in bad position
Even to men, kings, cows, lions,
Even to all animals in forest, insects, butterflies and bees.
Desascha durgani vanani yathra,
Senanivesaa pura pattanani,
Peedynthi sarve vishama sthithena,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who creates problems, if in bad position,
Even to country, to deep forests, to forts,
Even to tents of army and to the cities.
Thilair yavair masha gudanna dhanai,
Lohena neelambara dhanatho va,
Preenathi manthrair nija vasare cha,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who gets pleased if gingelly,
Barley, jaggery rice, iron and,
Blue cloths are given in charity on Saturdays,
Or if he is worshipped on Saturdays.
Prayagakoole Yamunathate cha,
Saraswathi punya jale guhayam,
Yo yoginaam dhyana gathopi sookshma,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who lives in prayaga and at the shores,
Of rivers Yamuna and Saraswathi,
Who lives in caves and in a micro form,
In the meditation of great sages.
Anyapradhesath swagruham pravishta,
Thadeeyavare sa nara sukhee syath,
Gruhath gatho yo na puna prayathi,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
On whose day, if one reaches his home,
From some outside place, he becomes happy,
And if one leaves his home on that day,
He would become victorious and would not,
Find it necessary to travel again and again.
Srushta swayam bhoor bhuvana thrayasya,
Thratha Hareeso harathe pinaki,
Ekasthridha rug yaju sama moorthi,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya.
Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who as Brahma is the creator of three worlds,
Who as Vishnu, takes care of them,
Who as Shiva destroys them,
And who is spread as Rig, Yajur and Sama Veda.
Sanyashtakam ya prayatha prabhathe,
Nithyam suputhrai pasu bandhavaischa,
Padeth thu soukhyam bhuvi bhoga yuktha,
Prapnothi nirvana padam thadanthe.
He who reads this octet on Sani,
With devotion , everyday morning,
Would get good children , cows, good relatives,
Enjoy all pleasures and attain salvation at the end.
Konastha pingalo bhabru, krishno roudhro anthako yama,
Souri sanaischaro , manda , pippaladhena samsthutha,
He who lives in a triangle, who is of copper colour,
Who has mane like lion, who is of black colour,
Who is very angry, who destroys,
Who controls his senses, who is the son of Sun God,
Who moves slowly and in jerks, who has been sung by Pippalada
Ethani dasa naamani prathar uthaa ya padeth,
Sanaischara krutha peeda na kadachit bhavishyathi.
As soon as you get up in the morning.
If these ten names are chanted,
The problems created by Sanaischara,
Would be a thing of past.
Shani stotra (Dashrath krut)
Shani Arathi