Shri Shani Vrat Katha
Shani Dev plays an important role in every person's life, if Shani is in the best position in the horoscope then it gives great success to the person in a very short time. Therefore, every possible effort should be made to please Shani.
Once there was a debate among the nine planets as to who is the best among the nine planets. To reach a conclusion on this, all the gods went to Devraj Indra. They said, ‘O Devraj! Now you decide who is the greatest among us. Devraj Indra got confused by the question asked by the gods. Indra Dev said that I cannot answer this question. I am unable. To get the answer to this question, all of them went to King Vikramaditya of Ujjaini city on Earth.
All the gods reached the palace of King Vikramaditya and asked questions. King Vikramaditya also got confused on this. He was thinking that everyone has their own powers due to which they are great. If someone is called small or big, then he may suffer a lot due to anger. Meanwhile, the king thought of a way. He made 9 types of metals which included gold, silver, bronze, copper, lead, tin, zinc, mica and iron. The king placed all the metals behind each throne. After this, he asked all the gods to sit on the throne. By placing all the thrones behind each other according to the properties of the metals, he asked the gods to sit on their respective thrones.
When all the gods took their seats, King Vikramaditya said, “It has been decided. The one who sits first on the throne is the greatest.” Seeing this, Lord Shani became very angry and said, “King Vikramaditya! This is an insult to me. You have made me sit at the back. I will destroy you. You do not know my powers.” Lord Shani said, “The Sun stays on one zodiac sign for one month, the Moon for two and a quarter days, Mars for one and a half months, Mercury and Venus for one month, Jupiter for thirteen months. But I stay on any zodiac sign for seven and a half years. I have troubled great gods with my anger. Due to my anger, Shri Ram had to go and live in the forest because he was under Sade Sati. Ravana also died due to this reason. Now you too will not be able to escape my anger.” Lord Shani left from there in great anger. The rest of the gods left happily.
After this everything went on as normal. King Vikramaditya continued to dispense justice as before. Days passed like this but Shani Dev did not forget his insult. One day Shani Dev arrived in the kingdom in the guise of a horse trader to test the king. When King Vikramaditya came to know about this, he sent his horse keeper to buy some horses. The horse keeper returned and told the king that the horses were very valuable. The king himself went and chose a beautiful and powerful horse and rode on the horse to see its speed. As soon as King Vikramaditya sat on the horse, the horse ran at the speed of lightning. The horse took the king to a forest and dropped him down there and then disappeared somewhere. The king started wandering in the forest to find the way to the kingdom. But he could not find any way.
After some time he met a shepherd. The king, troubled by hunger and thirst, asked the shepherd for water. The shepherd gave him water and the king gave him one of his rings. After asking for directions, the king left the forest and reached a nearby town. The king stopped at a merchant's shop for some rest. There, while talking to the merchant, the merchant told him that he had come from Ujjaini city. The king sat at that shop for some time. While he sat there, the merchant made a lot of sales. The merchant considered the king very lucky. The merchant invited the king to his house for dinner.
There was a gold necklace hanging on a peg in Seth's house. He left the king in the same room and went out. After some time the peg swallowed the gold necklace. Seth came back and asked Vikramaditya where his necklace was. Then the king told him about the necklace being missing. Seth got angry and ordered Vikramaditya's hands and legs to be chopped off. After King Vikramaditya's hands and legs were chopped off, he was left on the city street.
Then after some time an oilman took Vikramaditya with him. The oilman made him sit on his oil press. He used to drive the oxen by calling them the whole day. Vikramaditya's life continued like this. He was under the influence of Shani Sade Sati and after its end the rainy season started.
One day the king was singing Megh Malhar. At that time, the daughter of the king of that city, Princess Mohini, heard his voice. She liked his voice very much. Mohini sent her maid to call the singer. When the maid returned, she told Mohini everything about the handicapped king. But the princess was fascinated by his Megh Malhar. Despite being handicapped, she agreed to marry the king. When Mohini's parents came to know about this, they were shocked. The queen explained to her daughter that you are destined to be the queen of a king. Why do you want to marry this handicapped man? But despite explaining, the princess remained adamant. To fulfill her wish, the princess left her food.
For the happiness of their daughter, the king and queen agreed to get Mohini married to the handicapped Vikramaditya. Both of them got married and started living in the oilman's house. That day, Shanidev came in Vikramaditya's dream. He said, ” See my wrath.” The king asked Shanidev to forgive him. He said, “Don't give as much pain to anyone else as you have given me.”
On this Shani Dev said, ‘King! I accept your prayer. Whoever worships me, observes fast and listens to my story will always be blessed by me. In the morning when King Vikramaditya woke up, he saw that his hands and feet had returned. He bowed to Shani Dev in his mind. The princess was also surprised to see Vikramaditya's hands and feet. Then the king narrated the story of Shani Dev's wrath.
When the merchant came to know about this, he went to the oilman's house. He fell at the feet of King Vikramaditya and asked for forgiveness. The king forgave the merchant. The merchant asked the king to go to his house and have food. While eating, the peg suddenly spat out the necklace. The merchant also married his daughter to the king. He gave her gold ornaments, money etc. and sent her off with the king.
King Vikramaditya reached his kingdom Ujjaini with his two wives i.e. Princess Mohini and Seth's daughter. Everyone welcomed them. After this, King Vikramaditya announced in the entire kingdom that from today onwards Shanidev will be considered the best among all the gods. Also, observe fast of Shanidev and listen to Vrat Katha. Seeing this, Shanidev became very happy. By observing fast and listening to Vrat Katha, Shanidev's blessings started coming and people started living happily.
