SATURDAY VRAT

शनिवार का व्रत

* We worship The God Shani this day *
* Among the things offered to the Lord are Black Til (sesame oil), Black clothes,Oil, Urad( black gram whole) *
* One should have meals only once in the evening after the puja is over *
* Food cooked should be without salt *

Story related to this fast:

Once there was an argument between the nine planets Sun (Sunday), Moon(Monday), Mars(Tuesday) ,Mercury (Wednesday), Jupiter(Thursday), Venus(Friday), Saturn(Saturday), Rahu and Ketu that who occupied the highest place amongst them. Lord Indra did not know how to answer this question so he asked them to approach King Vikramaditya on Earth .All of them approached the King with this query; he too fell in a dilemma for it meant pleasing one God and antagonising others.

He came up with a solution - he ordered that thrones of all three elements (gold,silver,bronze, copper, glass, iron etc) be made and they be put in the order that gold is in front and iron throne is kept last. Then he requested the Gods to occupy them. He said that the throne that is in front would occupy the highest place among them. Since iron was at the end and it was the throne occupied by Lord Shani, the Lord Shani understood that the King had chosen him to be the weakest.

This angered Lord Shani, he told the king that the sun sign stays for 1 month, moon stays for 2 ¼ days, Mars 1 ½ month, Jupiter 13 month, Mercury and Venus 1 month each, while Rahu and Ketu move in opposite directions and stay for 18 months on one Rashi ; while He stays for 30 months. He warned the King of adverse circumstances.

Time went by, then came the period of Sare Saathi ( a period of 7 ½ years) of King Vikramaditya . Lord Shani in disguise of a horse seller arrived at his palace and the King chose to buy a beautiful horse. No sooner did he sit on it' back, he ran far away into the forests and disappeared. The King wandered in the forests. Finally he reached a town and sat outside a traders shop.The King had kept his name as Vika to hide his identity. The business was dull those days, but fortunately that day, the trader did a roaring business. Considering that this man had brought him luck, he took him to his house to feed him.

Unfortunately, while he was in their house, an expensive necklace disappeared and he was arrested and brought to the King's court who ordered that all his four limbs be severed from the body.

The King wandered aimlessly until an oil seller picked him up and carried him to his home where he earned his living by pulling a bullock cart with his teeth. After the Shani period of the King ended, he was one day singing aloud the Malhar raga. The royal princess was so impressed on hearing this melodious song that she decided she would marry the singer alone and none else. Her parents tried to reason with her but she was adamant and went on a fast. Finally her parents had to get her married to Vika(the King Vikramaditya). That very night when the couple was sleeping in the palace, Lord Shani came in Vika's dreams and told him that his present state was because he had pronounced Lord Shani to be the weakest among the planets. King Vikramaditya begged mercy and the God pardoned him , he became normal and his limbs were restored. The King told the Lord Shani that he has suffered a lot and pleaded with him that henceforth he should not give so much misery to anyone. Lord Shani agreed and proclaimed that whosoever listens and narrates his stories will be immune from all evils related to Shani sign. Those who will worship him daily and feed the ants with flour will have all their desires fulfilled.

Meanwhile the trader whose necklace was lost came to know the facts and rushed to the King Vikramaditya and fell on his feet. He invited him for meals at his place. While the King was having meals at his house a miracle occurred and the lost necklace reappeared. The trader was very pleased and he married off his daughter to the King .

Thereafter after resting for sometime, King Vikramaditya returned to his native town Ujjain with both his wifes, a lot of dowry, valuables and maids, much to the delight of the local citizens whose happiness knew no bounds.

Next day the King ordered that no one will ever undervalue the strength of Lord Shani because he was the Supreme among the planets. As a ritual the King started to worship the Lord on Saturdays and kept vrat , offered oil, black Urad(Black gram whole dal), black clothes and copper.

Those who worship Lord Shani on Saturdays and observe vrat will have all their sorrows driven away and will lead a happy life.

How to safeguard against the evils linked to Shani rashi?

Those born with Shani signs should apply oil themselves and donate oil to Brahmans on Saturdays. The worship includes first praying before an iron image of Shani kept in an iron utensil, then black flowers, 2 black clothes, kasar (prasadam), til(sesame seeds) and cooked rice are used for worshipping. A black blanket, sesame seeds oil and some donation is offered to a Brahman. Thereafter recite the following verse:

" Sha No Dewarmishtaya Aapo Bhavantu Pitaye
Sha Yorbhi Stravantu namah."

In order to make himself immune to the evils related to Shani sign, one should perform this worship and observe vrat on each Saturday for 1 year.

On each Saturday one should also worship the Peepal tree, tie a cotton thread round it's bark seven times while chanting " Shani Dev Ki Jai". Worship the God using Dhoop, and sweets, wear an iron ring.

Lord Hanuman is also worshipped on Saturdays because desciples of Lord Hanuman are never influenced by the Shani sign. The story is that Ravana had held Lord Shani and Mahakal captive and it was Lord Hanuman who freed them from his captivity during the burning of Lanka. Feeling obliged, Lord Shani had promised Hauman that he would not trouble those who worship Lord Hanuman.