Saturn: To become unburdened.

In the Ramayana, one of the most esteemed worshipped deities is Hanuman, who is said to be the one that can take away misery caused by Lord Shani (Saturn). But how does Hanuman do this?

In the 40 verses to Hanuman (Hanuman Chalisa) we recognize Him as the giver of the 8 siddhis and 9 niddhis. Siddhis are known as superpowers like becoming extremely large, flying, walking on water etc. One of the siddhis of Lord Hanuman is Laghima Siddhi (to become so light that you can fly away) and this is the very superpower that helps him cross oceans to reach Maa Sita who was kidnapped and held hostage by Ravana in the Ashoka Vatika.

Saturn in the solar system is known to be the lightest planet, it is so light it could float on water. Often the association of Saturn is with very heavy things in life, pain, suffering, misery, punishment etc. a lot of people also consider Saturn to be mahakrura (extremely cruel) and sadistic even because He ‘inflicts’ pain. The layman understanding of Saturn keeps us in a state of fear because we consider ourselves to be inherently deserving of the misery He inflicts. However, the one who understands this secret siddhi of Laghima -lightness, will think of Saturn less as a cruel over lord and more as a friend in need that unburdens you and is refuge when everything else is gone.

Blessings of Saturn

In Robert Svaboda’s book ‘The Greatness of Saturn’, Shani himself narrates a story to King Vikramaditya about Him giving misery to His own Guru (it is a beautiful book, highly recommend it for those who want to get a deeper perspective). In the narrative, the Guru is absolutely terrified and wants to be spared of Shani’s harsh gaze and begs Shani to spare him, however, Shani is impartial and cannot spare anyone of the consequences of their own karma. The Guru begs Shani to be graceful and not affect him as much (7.5 years of Shani’s transit over the moon is Sade Sati, Shani’s grace gives him only 3.5 hours of this transit). The Guru then becomes extremely arrogant and thinks that He would spend the time bathing and meditating however, Shani becomes aware of the arrogance and teaches His own Guru, a lesson in humility.

Guru (also another name for Jupiter) means heavy, however, Shani, unburdens the Guru of this heaviness by teaching him a lesson by bringing up circumstances that bring down the self-importance he had and gives him a sense of compassion. There are many lessons we learn from Shani throughout our lives but to become light like Shani, to become completely unburdened we need to learn to work towards this Laghima siddhi by imbibing compassion and also not taking ourselves too seriously!

ॐ हं हनुमते नमः

The rasa (essence) of lightness is to be able to enjoy and be amazed at the world around us, no matter what circumstances come our way. Lord Hanuman’s power came from this ability to not focus so much on Himself but on Lord Ram and the tasks given to Him. In many episodes, Lord Hanuman would also respect the demons who would put obstacles in His way and revere them as mighty and amazing despite being mightier and even more clever than them. When we take the perception we have of ourselves too seriously, it burdens us with the responsibility of becoming completely stagnant in that perception. This heaviness soon conditions us to believe that we cannot change, we cannot do certain things because we’ve put out an image of ourselves that we have to maintain. Lord Hanuman didn’t have any of these problems and neither do children, because they enjoy learning about the world in new ways in relation to themselves. Lord Hanuman was ridiculed as ‘mere monkey’ by Ravana but that didn’t put an end to His quest for uniting Lord Ram and Devi Sita. Such should be the lightness of our beings that we have the ability to laugh at ourselves just as much as we can laugh at others. In fact, those who only laugh at the miseries of others and the humiliation of others are put through the same circumstances by Shani to teach them humility. Saturn as the significator of those who are at the lower rungs of society wants you to learn their servile nature and devotion, if you look at your birth chart for Shani and neglect that particular aspect of your life, that lack of devotion is what is being punished by Saturn. When we are light, we become humble because we believe we are nothing and when we become humble, we have the power to view everything in wonder because the ego is purified.

Lord Hanuman was known to be someone who made everyone around him laugh and play, just like a little child does to evoke love from their caretaker. To become unburdened is to not be affected by people’s perception of you, your own self-importance and to look to the world with absolute awe and have devotion for everything… and with devotion, even Lord Shani begins to favour you and give you boons.

ॐ श्री शनैश्चराय नम:

'Bringing the magic-herb (sanjivani), You revived Lord Laxmana. Raghupati, Lord Rama praised You greatly and overflowing in gratitude, said that You are a dear brother to Him just as Bharat is.'

-Shri Hanuman Chalisa, Verse 11