After seeking the blessings of your parents and foster mother
you performed an austere meditation at a very young age.
All hail Lord Shiva.
O Shani, son of Chhaya.
Your meditation has yielded the desired fruits.
Mahadev.
Salutations, Mahadev.
I am immensely pleased with your devotion.
You are guileless.
You are non-partisan by nature.
Hence, speaking of all humans born on Earth
I hand over the responsibility of judging their deeds
and awarding them with the apt punishment to you.
You shall also be renowned by names like
Nyayadheesh or 'The Just One'
and Dandadhikari or 'The Giver of Punishment'.
It will be your duty
to award every living being with justice or punishment
as per their deeds
and to also keep them from committing more sins
so that they may propel their lives to salvation.
As you wish, My Lord.
Before you herald justice for anyone else
it is imperative for me to herald justice for you.
You have been away from your father since birth.
Hence, I award you with a place
in the planets of the Solar System.
"Om.."
"All hail Lord Shiva.."
Henceforth, you shall wield the following weapons
the trident
the mace and the arrow.
"Om.."
"All hail Lord Shiva.."
All hail Mahadev!
All hail Mahadev.
After being bestowed upon with boons by Lord Shiva himself
he was brimming with renewed hope
that upon meeting with his father again
he will receive the affection
he was never showered with.
But once again, you met
with nothing but despair.
Could the affection of your father
do away with the murkiness within you?
You had robbed Lord Surya of his brilliance
in your very first meeting.
Hence, he was plagued with distrust and doubt.
Moreover, after meeting him
you had gone away from him to meditate.
So, how could he possibly have known
as to what feelings you housed in your heart?
Even the farthest planets of the Solar System
feared the boons you were blessed with post-meditation.
They had heard the tales of your powers.
They wished to stay away from you as they were frightened.
What you are by deeds, beliefs and personality
is something they neither comprehended
nor wished to comprehend.
So, when you reached the court of Lord Surya
you witnessed
how fate had deceived you yet again.
It was too late.
Mangal, Buddh, Brihaspati, Shukra
and each and every planet of the Solar System
had secured a place next to Lord Surya.
Salutations, Father.
Come, Shani.
Pray have your seat.
What are you pondering, Shani?
Your seat is made of iron.
Does that astonish you?
Well, the seat is in accordance
with your complexion and personality.
I hope you like it, Shani.
But even if you do not like it
do not get consumed by rage
and incinerate it with your eyes.
Had they merely jested with me
I too would have had a good laugh with them.
However, they are mocking me but you
are silent.
In this court of yours
everyone else is seated on a gold throne
but I get a throne made of iron!
I do not adore gold, Father
but I do adore the truth, equality and justice.
And the truth is
that you disregarded me yet again today.
That is all right, Father.
Mahadev has crowned me the god of judging everyone's deeds
and also that of awarding them with apt punishments.
And with the aid of my deeds
I will garner the most-honoured position in the world.
That is an oath I take, Father.
Lord Shani, you were handed over the responsibility
of awarding living beings with apt punishments.
And speaking of the ones who award others with punishment
they indeed strike fear into the hearts of others
but they fail to command their respect.
That is because your image is so.
You see, once you appear before someone
that being is troubled by the realisation of his misdeeds.
When it was time, you were
meant to be married
to Lady Dhamini, daughter of Chitrarath.
But even then, the sole parent to stand by you
was your mother, Chhaya.
The arrival of your father
was a mere formality.
None of the planets showed up to partake in your joy.
You endured that insult too
and married Lady Dhamini as per the Gandharva laws.
Once, Lord Shani
was immersed in meditation.
He was neither awake nor in a state of slumber.
His wife approached him after adorning herself
but he was immersed in deep meditation.
'If a woman tries to draw her husband's attention'
'and still, if he is indifferent to her'
'then nothing can be more humiliating than this'
'for a woman.'
'I had got married to you with so much enthusiasm.'
'I had not even imagined that my wishes will get crushed'
'like this.'
'If you do not have even so much feelings for me'
'to even lift your eyes and look at me once'
'then what is the use of such eyes?'
'Even after decking up with sixteen kinds of adornments'
'if your eyes cannot look at me'
'then such a life is a waste!'
'As well as your eyes are a waste!'
'Hence, I, your faithful wife, Damini'
'curse you with all the virtues of my chastity as witness'
'that henceforth, the one whom your gaze falls on'
'will get destroyed!'
Stop it, child.
Do not remind me of that moment.
In my fury
I had dared to disrupt the penance
of a devotee of Lord Shiva.
And I have been suffering the consequences
of that sin until now.
Now no matter how much my husband wishes
he cannot even
lift his gaze and look at me.
I hope the 'Til Laddoos' have been prepared.
If you two keep standing here
your brothers will not come back.
Go bring the donation materials.
We need to offer the donation after the veneration.
Fine, Mother. I will bring them right away.
After Lady Damini cursed you, not just for her, your gaze
became a curse for the entire world.
You got neglected by your father
separated from your mother
and cursed by your wife
and the negative energy produced by numerous such sorrows
got transformed into powers of penance
due to your penance.
And the result of that powers of penance
is your malefic gaze
and its amazing power.
Now, on the one whom your gaze falls
is sure to get reduced to a miserable state.
No doubt the adversities of life made you stone-hearted
but they could not make you cruel.
Lord Mahadev chose you as the God of Justice
because you are impartial by nature.
You do not have any emotional attachment
to any person, situation, or place.
You just give the fruits of deeds
and do justice.
Despite being the lord of an entire planet
you are not at all arrogant.
You suffered so much humiliation
but still, you did not let the feeling of revenge
grow inside you.
You never forgive the wrongdoer
and you do not harm people who are righteous even slightly.
Your malefic gaze is powerful.
It is very powerful.
But even more powerful than that is your
kindness.
The one who gets blessed by your kindness
gets money, grains, prosperity
and wealth automatically.
Lord, hence I know
that you are not harmful.
I pay
my obeisance to you, Lord.
Garud.
You honoured your promise.
You narrated the story of my birth and life
with complete accuracy.
And very cleverly
you presented your mother's challenges
along with my mother's difficulties
so that you could make me emotional.
It proves one thing.
Although you have been quiet initially
you are proficient in speaking skills.
Garud?
What happened?
Did you get any indication?
I did not get any indication, Sister.
I saw him
for a moment just now in this lamp!
Even his snake brothers were with him.
'What does this indication imply?'
'Could they be in any danger?'
If you feel
that this skill of yours could keep you safe
it is a very big mistake of yours, Garud.
Your Highness, I request you
to be merciful to them.
I have already fulfilled one wish of yours, lady.
All of us have heard Garud.
But my personal feelings
cannot create obstacles in the path of justice.
I will fulfil my duty, lady.
And in my court, even their fate will be decided
like how it has been happening until now
through appropriate process.
I
will peep into the depths
of your heart
soul and brain of you all.
Then I will decide
whether you deserve forgiveness
or punishment.