RESCUE FROM THE EFFECTS OF A SHANI GRAHA
Case History:
Karran, a native of Guyana grew
up in a modest farming community. He emigrated to Toronto in the early
seventies, managed to educate himself and thereafter began acquire some
wealth and status in life. As a result, he began to think that he was so
much better than the friends and family with whom he was accustomed to
socialize. He became "briga" (boastful). He allowed his Ego to get the
better of him, began to snub others, show off his status and wealth and
drove around in his Mercedes Benz 350 as if he were so much better than
everyone he met. Karran's actions eventually brought him to the doorstep
of Shani Devta.
Who is Shani Devta?
Under the laws of karma, our
actions create consequences. If we perform good actions, we reap good benefits.
If we perform bad actions we reap our just rewards. But who keeps the record
of our actions? According to our sacred Hindu scriptures, Shani Devta which
is represented by the ringed planet Saturn, keeps the account balances
in his ledger. He records our every action and like the bank manager who
keeps monitoring our debt and repayment schedule, Shani Dev will eventually
call us in to discuss our account balance. And like the bank manager, Shani
Dev will give the order to repossess our status and material wealth when
we have abused it and fail to make our scheduled repayments to the universe.
The Shani Graha
A full Shani Graha (known as
the Saturn Cycle) will last for seven and a half (7.5) years in a person's
life. But this period is broken down into three (3) periods of two and
a half (2.5) years each. In the first period Saturn seize your assets
and your material possession. In the second period it affects your
health and personal relationship. In the third period, depending
on the level of realization and understanding (humility), Saturn will return
to you what you have lost and double your prosperity, if you become more
enlightened during the Saturn Cycle. We must remember that everything
is lent to us for our use and enjoyment and as soon as we become possessive,
we fall under the watchful eyes of Shani Dev and lose it all under his
shadow. If the abuse of our wealth or power was very severe, Shani
Dev will hit us for the full repayment term. If our abuse is not so severe,
Shani will bring us back in line with a lesser sentence. When we hoard
our wealth and use it to improve our own power base, this may allow us
to take advantage of others in personal or business transactions. When
we fail to give to charity; when we fail to contribute to community development;
when we fail to share our knowledge and experiences, we have to stop and
ask, "What am I really contributing to the up-liftment and betterment of
the universe?" And if the answer is, "Nothing, really," then we know we
are likely to be called in by Shani Dev to discuss our account balance.
Thus when blow after blow begin to strike us financially and we see that
our business and investments begin to fail, our job promotions cease or
diminish; when our income is less than the debts we begin to incur, we
know that Shani Dev is ringing the bell in our ears to get our attention.
It is the feeling of possession that attracts Shani in one's life. This
situation is like the parent who calls in the errant child for a disciplinary
chat that may perhaps end up with a 'grounding' for a short period of time.
Can we get Relief from a Shani
Graha?
In the history of mankind there
has always been evidence of leniency when we humble ourselves. When the
young couple who are struggling to make ends meet welcomes the visiting
mother-in-law with open arms and treat her with great respect and humility,
she is likely to grant them their request for help. They may cook her favourite
dish, listen to her stories and perhaps massage her feet as they put her
to sleep in the best bed in the house. In the morning, they prepare a lavish
breakfast of all the foods and sweetmeats that she likes. As she is getting
ready to leave, they ask for her help to buy a better house for her growing
grandchildren. When the accused accepts responsibility for his actions
and throws himself at the mercy of the court, the magistrate often times
will have no hesitation in reconsidering the severity of the penalty. What
are the chances that the mother-in-law will refuse? In a like manner, when
Shani Dev slaps us with a severe penalty for our own misdeeds, we must
accept responsibility for our actions and go to him with great humility.
When we do that, what are the chances that he will refuse our request?
The Puja to obtain Relief
from a Shani Graha
Step 1. The Shiva Puja
Our sacred Hindu scriptures
teach that a Puja is not blessed unless Lord Shiva (the Cosmic Lord of
Time) is invited. Thus our first stage in the Shani Gra Puja is to go to
Lord Shiva and ask for his blessings. This means that we propitiate:
Ganesh - the remover of Obstacles. Gowrie Mata - to receive the blessings
of the universal Mother. Dharti Mata (Earth) - for accepting us when we
took birth. Saraswaty Mata - to ordain us with true knowledge. Kalash Devta
- Ganga, Varuna and Laxmi representing water, vegetation and light in unity
of the Earth. Laxmi Mata - to provide light in our lives. Nav
Graha - the nine planets in the order of Sun (Surya), Moon (Chandra), Mercury
(Budh), Venus (Shukra), Mars (Mangal), Jupiter (Brihaspati), Saturn (Shani),
North Node (Rahu), South Node (Ketu). We beg that they remove all negative
influences from our journey. Lord Shiva - the Cosmic Lord of time.
We beg Lord Shiva for his blessings and then we ask him to come in the
form of his 11th incarnation as Hanuman Devta.
Step 2. The Hanuman Puja
In the Hindu epic the Ramayana,
we are told that Hanuman Devta went to the fortress of the Rakshas King
Ravana in Lanka to rescue Sita Mata, the wife or Lord Rama. But who was
Lord Rama and who was Hanuman Devta? They are none other than the incarnations
of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Therefore in the Puja ritual, we must first
go to Lord Shiva and ask him to come in the form of Lord Hanuman before
we begin to do the Hanuman Puja. Hanuman Devta is the rescuer of Shani
Dev and thus we must first go to him before we begin to propitiate Shani
Devta.
Step 3. The Shani Puja
As the stories in the Hindu
epics continue, we learn that when Lord Hanuman was crossing the ocean
on his way to Lanka to the kingdom of the Demon King Ravana, he saw the
nine planets who were captured. Ravana had the ability to overcome the
planets and they were bound and made to lay face down. Shani Dev recognized
Hanuman-ji and begged Hanuman to release him. But Hanuman-ji said, "Shani
Dev, if I release you, you will get to look at me and cause me to come
under the effects of Sade Sati." The effects of Sade Sati will cause one
to lose their prosperity and suffer for a period of seven-and-a-half years.
Shani Dev then promised Hanuman-ji that if he is released, that he will
not affect any devotee who does Puja to Hanuman on Saturday - a day dedicated
to Shani (Satur(n)-day). So once the Hanuman Puja is complete, only then
must we begin to perform the Shani Puja because it is through the help
of Hanuman Devta that Shani Devta became free from his bondage. When Shani
Dev recognizes that we have accepted our mistakes and have learned from
it; when he sees the great humility with which we approach him; when he
sees the great love and devotion with which we worship him and beg for
forgiveness, he will show us mercy and lighten our load.
Karran at first tried to understand
his problems by taking a logical and rational approach, but nothing seems
to make sense. On paper, his earnings added up. He can see clearly where
the money was being spent. But he could not understand why every thing
seemed to go wrong one after another. He was on the verge of losing his
job due to down sizing. This seemed very understandable. He had an accident
with his Mercedes Benz. Again very possible. His sewer drain became clogged
and flooded his basement. Drains do get blocked. He fell in the bathtub
and broke an arm. Accidents do happen. Spousal arguments develop out of
the blues. These things happen. And on and on the list continues. Soon,
logic and rationality did not cut it anymore. Karran began to seek mystical
help. He went from one mystic to another to get quick fixes but soon found
that these visits cost him a lot of money too. He was on the verge of losing
hope when he hit upon our website and got attracted to the teachings of
Swami Ram. A few months later, after Swami-ji performed a proper Shani
Puja, Karran's life has become settled once again. He has learnt the lessons
presented by the Shani Graha and thus his wealth and prosperity was returned
to him.
Quiz.
Mother Laxmi (light) provides
wealth and luxury to us while Shani Devta (darkness) brings a person to
his knees before God and makes him truly spiritual. Between Laxmi Mata
and Shani Dev, who do you think is greater?
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Copyright © 2001 RamCharran