Sanaischarashtakam

Sanaischarashtakam
(The octet on the slow moving planet)
By
King Dasaratha
Translated by
P.R.Ramachander
( Sani(slow one) aka Sanaischara(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). He 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). He is the indicator of longevity, diseases, death, base actions, reason for death, danger, slave hood and cattle wealth in the horoscope. He is described as one with very hard hair, of black colour, phlegmatic, one with thick teeth, one having red eyes, one with base character, slow witted, lazy and well proportioned. He is the owner of Makara and Kumbha rasi of the horoscope, powerless in mesha rasi and extremely powerful in Thula rasi. Shukra(Venus) and Budha(mercury) are his friends, Jupiter equal , sun , moon, and Kuja(Mars) are his enemies .He is also referred as Manda, Kona, Bhaskari, Arki and Suryputhra 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 Chandra rasi, rasi before it and rasi after it. This period is called Sade Sathi in Hindi and Ezharai nattu sani in Tamil. Even in this seven and half year period, the period when it is with Chandra is the worst one. In a person's life, there is a possibility of this seven and half period coming thrice, the first called mangu sani, the second called pongu sani and the third called marano (pokku) sani. Another very bad period is when Sani lives in the 8th house from moon. The mental confusion it causes may even make one mad. Other Rasis where is bad are 4th , 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th rasi from the moon. This would mean that he does good only for 5 years during his one full round of 30 years. To please sani it is necessary either to pray him, or his friend Hanuman or Lord Iyappa 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 Sani are requested to recite this prayer , regularly on Saturdays. )


Kono anthako roudhra yamo adha babru,
Krishna sani pingala manda souri,
Nithyam smrutho yo harathe cha peedaam,
Thasmai nama Ravinandanaya. 1

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. 2

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. 3

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. 4

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. 5

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. 6

Salutations to the son of Sun god,
Who lives in prayaga and at the shores,
Of rivers Yamuna and Saraswathy,
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. 7

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. 8

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. 9

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, 10

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. 11

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.