The Hindu mythology depicts the importance of various planets through stories of kings and gods. The planet Saturn ('lord Shani') is considered to be born to Lord Sun and Chaya Devi (the goddess of shadow). He is generally known to bring challenges but the outcome of it can enhance a person's life by imbibing the qualities of discipline, patience and self discovery. One such story of shani is as follows:
Once upon a time, the wise king Vikramaditya of Ujjaini was asked to rate the seven planets by offering each one of them a chair made of different materials (gold, silver, wood, iron, etc). During this test, lord Shani was presented with an iron chair instead of other precious ones, this made him furious. So, Shani came to the kingdom of Ujjain disguised as a vendor to sell horses and while the king was riding one of the horses, he was misdirected and taken faraway from his kingdom. After getting lost, Vikramaditya finds shelter at a merchant's house but his daughter falsely accuses him for stealing one of her necklace. As a form of punishment, his legs and hands are amputated by King Chandrasena.
The crippled King Vikramaditya is expelled from this kingdom of King Chandrasena but an oil-presser’s daughter-in-law takes him home out of pity, where he starts working by tending the bullocks on the oil-press. After seven years, he becomes an accomplished master of the arts and starts singing while driving the mill. One evening, he sings the raga Deepak so soulfully that all the lamps in the city light up spontaneously. King Chandrasena’s daughter notices his talent and invites him into her quarters, where he regales her day and night with divine music and eventually she falls in love with him.
Finally, King Chandrasena’s daughter vows to her father that she would marry none but Vikramaditya. Meanwhile, lord Shani observes that Vikramaditya has had enough suffering and the king has turned into a skilled musician during his challenging time. So, Shani willingly grants a boon to the king as a blessing for his hard work at the oil mill and his devotion expressed through music. Instead of asking for his hands and feet, Vikramaditya requests Lord Shani to spare the rest of mankind from the extreme challenge he had to endure in his life. Touched by the king’s selflessness and compassion, Saturn agrees to his request and restores the king to his previous glory. Thus, the influence of Saturn helped the king discover his power of grit and resilience while overcoming the challenges through hard work, discipline and devotion.
Reference:
This story is extracted from the book 'The Greatness Of Saturn: A Therapeutic MythPaperback – 1 February 1998 by Robert E. Svobod'
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