Peepal tree mitigates Shani’s wrath: Legend of a child’s penance

Lord Shani, the God of justice and Karma, and one of the ‘Navagrahas’ of Vedic astrology is said to be the ruling

Saturn

, the planet that moves slowly.

Shani

dev is known for his tough and strict nature, and how he maintains the karmic balance in people’s lives.
It is said that Lord Shani, being the son of Lord Surya, was always exceptional among others. He was devoted, had spiritual qualities, had a strong sense of right and wrong, and many more divine qualities. It is also believed that Lord Shani’s gaze, or his ‘drishti’, is so powerful that it can transform people’s lives. While some say that Lord Shani brings trials and misfortunes, many more believe that Lord Shani only tests people and makes them stronger, more guided, and gives them better clarity and wisdom.

Lord Shani and Sade sati period

One of the most feared periods in a person’s life is that of Sade Sati. Sade sati is basically a period of about 7.5 years where a person goes through intense trials and tribulations, and proves himself in the eyes of Shani dev.

Again, while many like to believe that it is a time of hardship where Lord Shani does everything wrong with your life, it is always better to think of it as just a challenging phase, where Shani dev teaches you all about spiritual growth and helps improve and change your karma.

The name of ‘Shanishchar’

Shani Dev is often referred to as ‘

Shanishchar

’, which is translated as ‘the slow moving one’. When Shanishchar is on the charts, it stays for about 2.5 years, and this time is one of extreme struggle. This slow, gradual movement is said to be and feel like his role as a God who looks over people’s karma over a period of time, and gets back at the wrongful ones.

But, have you ever wondered why Shani dev is the slow-moving one? And why he was given the name of ‘Shanishchar’ and the reputation of being slow? Here we mention a few instances and legends that elaborate why this name came into being.
The scientific reason for the logical brains
For people who believe in logic and science but still wish to be mindful of their charts and beliefs in religion, Shani dev is called ‘Shanishchar’ because of his position in the planetary system. According to one belief, Lord Shani, and his governance over the planet Saturn, is responsible for the slow move.
As the Saturn planet is on the 6th number from the sun, the difference between the two is huge. And as the distances are calculated by how long it takes to go around the Sun one time, it takes considerably long for Saturn to complete its orbit.
And according to NASA, “One day on Saturn takes only 10.7 hours (the time it takes for Saturn to rotate or spin around once), and Saturn makes a complete orbit around the Sun (a year in Saturnian time) in about 29.4 Earth years.”
And thus the extremely long time that Saturn takes to complete its orbit is equated to the slowness of Lord Shani, and his name thus comes to Shanishchar for some people.
The story of Pippalad
Another very interesting story comes through Pippalad, the son of

Rishi Dadichi

, who gave up his life for the protection of the Devtas.
An X account by the name of ‘Right Singh’ shared this story and there are many variations to it that are found in popular lore and personal beliefs.
The story goes – When Rishi Dadichi was approached by the Gods, they came with a plea. A demon (Asura) had started to rain hell on the heavens, and the only way to kill him was through Rishi Dadichi’s bones. It was through his bones that an Astra (weapon) could be made that would kill the demon Vritra.
It is believed that Rishi Dadichi then asked for a holy cow named ‘Surabhi’ to lick the flesh off his body, and the bones that would remain could be used to make the astra. And as this happened and Rishi Dadhichi had to give up his life, his wife could not bear that sight, and she jumped into the funeral pyre with him, leaving behind a little boy. She kept the boy under a Peepal tree, and jumped into the pyre with her husband.

This little boy grew up with fruits and leaves of the Peepal tree, and remained undiscovered for a long time. But then one day Narad muni saw him and went up to inquire who he was. As he got no answers, Narad muni meditated to know his name and his identity.
In sometime Narad got to know the reality behind who the boy was, and told him everything.
First things first, Narad muni gave him the name of Pippalad because he lived and survived under the Peepal tree, eating its fruit and taking shelter below it.
When Pippalad asked Narad muni why all this had happened to him, Narad said it was because of Shani’s influence. Pippalad grew angry and wanted vengeance. And so, he prayed, meditated, and performed extreme penance to Brahma, the creator. Ultimately, Pippalad got the boon that anyone he sees with anger would be reduced to flames.
With his boon, Pippalad wanted to reduce Shani to ashes, and so he tried to do the same. But soon, all the Gods came to Shani dev’s rescue, and Brahma agreed to give Pippalad one more boon if he left Shani dev alone.

Pippalad asked Brahma for a boon that is a common belief even today. The boon was – No child under the age of 5 shall have Lord Shani in their charts and no negative effects should fall on them till a certain age. All Pippalad wanted at that moment was to save other children from the fate he had to endure. And so, Brahma gave him this boon.
But unfortunately, Pippalad looked with anger towards Shani dev’s feet and his vahana, the crow, which led to the crow losing balance and Shani dev fell from a height.
From that day onwards, Lord Shani becomes Shanishchara, the slow moving one.
The wait of time and karma

Another famous story and belief that explains why Lord Shani is called ‘Shanishchara’, the slow-moving one, is that your karma, your past actions, deeds, and things you did slowly accumulate in the charts and come up to you.
When you do a bad deed today, you do not immediately pay for it. Infact, it does not even happen over the next few days! The bad karma, actions, and deeds, slowly creep up to you, and strike you down, making you feel helpless and dejected. And as this levelling up of your karma is equated to Shani dev and his actions, he is called Shanishchara, the one who moves slowly, and teaches people a lesson during the Sade sati period.
The story of Yamraj
Another popular belief that explains why Shani dev came to be Shanishchara is about a childhood fight!
According to a popular lore, Lord Surya had two wives – Sanjana, and her shadow Chhaya, who became his accidental wife. When Shani dev was born, he was darker as compared to his other siblings because his mother was not Sanjana, but rather Chhaya. The way people make sense of it is that as ones ‘Chhaya’ or shadow, is dark, no matter how bright it is, Lord Shani had the colour of his mother.
The story goes that Lord Shani was once in a fight with his stepbrother Yamraj, the God of death, who is also considered to be Lord Surya’s son. When Yamraj could not win from Shani, he pushed him down, because of which Shani dev’s foot was injured. And from then on he had to move slowly.
Some stories claim that Yamraj pushed Shani from a slope, others say that he injured Shani dev’s foot with an ax, and there are many variations of the story in different regions.
And thus, by a curse, by a fight, by the distance from the sun, and many more hidden, lesser-known stories, people got to know the reason as to why Shani dev moves slowly, taking years to correct people’s lives and karma.