Shani Chalisa

जय गणेश गिरिजा सुवन मंगल करण कृपाल । दीनन के दुख दूर करि कीजै नाथ निहाल ॥

Jai Ganesh Girija Suwan, Mangal karan kripaal. Deenan ke Dhuk dhoor kari, Kheejai Naath Nihaal.

Victory to Ganesha, son of Girija, maker of auspiciousness, full of grace. Take away the sorrow of the lowly and make them glad, O lord.

जय जय श्री शनिदेव प्रभु सुनहु विनय महाराज । करहु कृपा हे रवि तनय राखहु जनकी लाज ॥

JaiJai SriShanidev Prabhu, Sunahu Vinay Maharaaj Karahu Kruia hey Ravitanay, Rakhahu Jan ki Laaj.

Victory, victory to Shani Dev. Hear this petition, great king. Show grace, O son of Ravi, and keep the honour of your people. (Note: this doha is not the Shani Aarti, which opens with the similar जय जय श्री शनिदेव भक्तन हितकारी.)

जयति जयति शनिदेव दयाला । करत सदा भक्तन प्रतिपाला ॥

Jayathi jayathi shani dayaala, karath sadha bhakthan prathipaala.

Victory, victory to compassionate Shani Dev, who ever sustains those devoted to him.

चारि भुजा तनु श्याम विराजै । माथे रतन मुकुट छबि छाजै ॥

Chaari bhuja, thanu shyam viraajay, maathey ratan mukut chavi chaajay.

Four-armed and dark of body he shines; a jewelled crown upon his brow.

परम विशाल मनोहर भाला । टेढ़ी दृष्टि भृकुटि विकराला ॥

Param vishaal manohar bhaala, tedi dhrishti bhrukuti vikraala.

A broad and arresting brow; the crooked gaze, and formidable brows. This is the doctrinally central line: it is the gaze, not malice, that afflicts.

कुण्डल श्रवण चमाचम चमके । हिये माल मुक्तन मणि दमकै ॥

Kundal shravan chamaacham chamke, hiye maal mukthan mani dhamkay.

Earrings glitter at his ears; a garland of pearls and gems gleams at his chest.

कर में गदा त्रिशूल कुठारा । पल बिच करैं अरिहिं संहारा ॥

Kar me gadha thrishul kutaara, pal bich karai arihi samhaara.

Mace, trident and axe in his hands; in a moment he makes an end of enemies.

पिंगल कृष्णो छाया नन्दन । यम कोणस्थ रौद्र दुख भंजन ॥

Pinghal, krishno, chaaya, nandhan, yum, konasth, raudra, dhuk bhamjan.

Pingala, Krishno, son of Chhaya, Yama, Konastha, Raudra, breaker-of-sorrow. These are his OWN epithets: "Krishno" means the black one, Shani Dev himself, not Krishna the avatar. "Yama" here is his own name, not Yama acting as a separate deity.

सौरी मन्द शनी दश नामा । भानु पुत्र पूजहिं सब कामा ॥

Sauri, mandh shani, dhasha naama, bhanu puthra poojhin sab kaama.

Sauri, Manda, Shani: ten names in all. Son of the Sun, worshipped for every purpose.

जापर प्रभु प्रसन्न हवैं जाहीं । रंकहुँ राव करैं क्शण माहीं ॥

Jaapar prabu prasan havain jhaahin, rakhhun raav karai shan maahin.

On whom the lord looks with favour, he makes a pauper a king in a moment.

पर्वतहू तृण होइ निहारत । तृणहू को पर्वत करि डारत ॥

Parvathhu thrun hoi nihaarath, thrunhu ko parvath kari daarath.

At his glance a mountain becomes a blade of grass, and a blade of grass a mountain.

राज मिलत बन रामहिं दीन्हयो । कैकेइहुँ की मति हरि लीन्हयो ॥

Raaj milath ban raamhin dheenhyo, kaikeyihu ki mathi hari linhiyo.

As Rama was to receive the kingdom, the forest was given instead; Kaikeyi's judgement was carried away.

Kaikeyi's judgement, and Rama's exile

Ayodhya was decorated for a coronation. Kaikeyi, who had raised Rama and loved him, spent two old boons instead on Bharata being crowned and Rama sent to the forest for fourteen years. The verse says Shani Dev took away her mati, her discernment. Not her love and not her memory, only the capacity to judge rightly. Every other disaster in the Ramayana follows from that one hour.

In Valmiki's Ramayana, Kaikeyi is turned by her maid Manthara and there is no planetary cause. Shani appears nowhere in the entire Valmiki text. This attribution belongs to the devotional tradition rather than the epic.

बनहूँ में मृग कपट दिखाई । मातु जानकी गई चुराई ॥

Banhu mae mrag kapat dhikaayi, maathu Janki gayi chooraayi.

In the forest the illusory deer was shown, and mother Janaki was carried off.

The golden deer, and Sita's abduction

In exile, a deer of impossible gold appeared at the door of their hut. Sita asked for it. Rama followed it, then Lakshmana followed Rama, and in the moment the hut stood unguarded Ravana came for her. The deer was Maricha, a rakshasa wearing a shape, and the verse names the whole thing kapat, a deception.

लषणहिं शक्ति विकल करिडारा । मचिगा दल में हाहाकारा ॥

Lakanhin shakthi vikal kari daara, machiga dhal mae haahaakaar.

Lakshmana was laid low by the shakti; a cry of anguish rose through the army.

Lakshmana and the shakti

In the war at Lanka, Indrajit struck Lakshmana with the shakti and he fell as though dead. The verse says a cry of anguish went through the whole army. He was saved only because Hanuman carried a mountain of herbs from the Himalaya before dawn.

रावण की गति-मति बौराई । रामचन्द्र सों बैर बढ़ाई ॥

Raavan ki ghathi-mathi bauraayi, Ramchandra so bair badaayi.

Ravana's course and judgement were deranged; his enmity with Ramachandra grew.

Ravana's derangement

Ravana was a scholar of the Vedas, a devotee of Shiva, and a king whose city was the wonder of the age. His counsellors, his own brother and his wife all told him to return Sita. The verse says his gati and his mati, his course and his judgement, were deranged. He heard all of them and did none of it.

दियो कीट करि कंचन लंका । बजि बजरंग बीर की डंका ॥

Dheeyo keet kari kanchan Lanka, baji bajarang beer ki danka.

Golden Lanka was reduced to ash; the drum of the valiant Bajrang sounded. Hanuman appears here only, and as the instrument. Never a victim.

The burning of Lanka

Golden Lanka was reduced to ash, and the drum of the valiant Bajrang sounded. Hanuman appears here and only here in the whole Chalisa, and he appears as the instrument of the turn rather than as one of its victims.

नृप विक्रम पर तुहिं पगु धारा । चित्र मयूर निगलि गै हारा ॥

Nrip vikram par thuhin pagu dhaara, chitra mayur nigli gai haara.

You set foot upon King Vikram; a peacock in a painting swallowed the necklace. The Shani Mahatmya prose tradition tells the same episode with a swan.

King Vikramaditya, and the peacock

Shani Dev set foot upon Vikramaditya, the just king. A peacock painted on a wall in the palace swallowed the queen's necklace, and no one saw it happen.

The Shani Mahatmya prose tradition tells the same episode with a swan rather than a peacock.

हार नौंलखा लाग्यो चोरी । हाथ पैर डरवायो तोरी ॥

Haar naulakka laagyo chori, haath pair darvaayo thori.

The nine-lakh necklace was charged against him as theft; his hands and feet were struck off.

The nine-lakh necklace

The king was charged with the theft of the missing necklace. He was convicted, and his hands and feet were struck off. The most just man in the story receives the punishment of a thief.

भारी दशा निकृष्ट दिखायो । तेलहिं घर कोल्हू चलवायो ॥

Bhaari dhasha nikrusht dhikaayo, telhin ghar kholhu chalvaayo.

A heavy and wretched period was shown him; he was set to turn the oil-press in an oilman's house.

The oil press

Maimed and unrecognised, the king was set to turn the oil press in an oilman's house. A chakravarti sovereign spent his period walking in a circle behind a beam.

विनय राग दीपक महँ कीन्हयों । तब प्रसन्न प्रभु ह्वै सुख दीन्हयों ॥

Vinay raag dheepak mah khinho, tab prasann prabhu hvai sukh dheenho.

He made his plea within Raag Deepak; then the lord, pleased, gave him ease. This is the one episode with a resolution, and it is the Chalisa's argument: he can be propitiated.

Raag Deepak, and the turn

He sang. What he had left was a voice, and he made his plea within Raag Deepak, the raga that is said to light lamps. Shani Dev was pleased and gave him ease. This is the only episode in the whole Chalisa that resolves, and it is the text's argument: he can be propitiated.

हरिश्चंद्र नृप नारि बिकानी । आपहुं भरें डोम घर पानी ॥

Harishchandra nrip naari bhikani, aaphun bharen dome gar paani.

King Harishchandra's wife was sold, and he himself carried water in a Dom's house.

Raja Harishchandra

The king who would not tell a lie lost his kingdom, then sold his wife and son to pay a debt of truth, then took work in a cremation ground carrying water in a Dom's house. He held to his word through every stage of it.

तैसे नल पर दशा सिरानी । भूंजी-मीन कूद गई पानी ॥

Tasse nal par dasha sirani, bhunji-meen koodh gayi paani.

So too the period passed over Nala; the fried fish leapt back into the water. Damayanti is not named.

Raja Nala, and the fried fish

Nala lost his kingdom at dice and wandered in exile. The verse keeps one image from it: a fish already fried leapt from the pan back into the water. The period is described as something that overturns even what is finished.

Damayanti is not named in the Chalisa, though the wider story is hers as much as his.

श्री शंकरहिं गह्यो जब जाई । पारवती को सती कराई ॥

Sri Shankarhin gahyo jab jaayi, Paarvathi ko sathi karaayi.

When he seized Shri Shankara, Parvati was made Sati.

Shiva and Parvati

The verse says that when the period reached Shri Shankara himself, Parvati was made Sati. Not even the great god stands outside it. This is the point at which the Chalisa stops being about kings.

तनिक वोलोकत ही करि रीसा । नभ उड़ि गयो गौरिसुत सीसा ॥

Thanik vilokath hi kari reesa, nabh udi gayo gaurisuth seesa.

At one angry glance, the head of Gauri's son flew into the sky.

Ganesha's head

One angry glance, and the head of Gauri's son flew into the sky. The whole episode is a single look, which is what the Chalisa means when it names the tedhi drishti, the crooked gaze, as his instrument.

पाण्डव पर भै दशा तुम्हारी । बची द्रौपदी होति उघारी ॥

Paandav par bhay dasha thumhaari, bachi draupadhi hothi udhaari.

Your period came upon the Pandavas, and Draupadi WAS SAVED from being disrobed. Widely circulated English glosses reverse this line. The sense is that the affliction comes and she is rescued.

The Pandavas, and Draupadi saved

The period came upon the Pandavas: the dice, the exile, the court where Draupadi was dragged. And the verse says bachi Draupadi, she was SAVED from being disrobed. The affliction comes and the rescue comes with it.

Several widely circulated English glosses render this line as "Draupadi was disrobed", which reverses the theology of the verse entirely. The line says she was saved.

कौरव के भी गति मति मारयो । युद्ध महाभारत करि डारयो ॥

Kaurav ke bi gathi mathi maaryo, yudh mahabharath kari daryo.

The Kauravas' course and judgement were struck down, and the Mahabharata war was brought about.

The Kauravas, and the war

The Kauravas' course and judgement were struck down, and the Mahabharata was brought about. The same faculty that was taken from Kaikeyi at the start of the Ramayana is taken again here, and again an age ends because of it.

रवि कहँ मुख महँ धरि तत्काला । लेकर कूदि परयो पाताला ॥

Ravi kah mukh mahn dhari thathkala, lekar koodhi paryo paathaala.

He seized Ravi in his mouth at once, and leapt down with him to Patala.

Surya swallowed

He seized Ravi, his own father, in his mouth, and leapt down with him to Patala. The Chalisa does not soften the relationship: the son takes the sun out of the sky.

शेष देव-लखि विनति लाई । रवि को मुख ते दियो छुड़ाई ॥

Saish dhev-lakhi vinthi laayi, Ravi ko mukh thay dhiyo chudaayi.

Seeing this, Shesha made his plea, and Ravi was released from the mouth.

Sheshnag's petition

Seeing the world without its sun, Shesha made his plea, and Ravi was released from the mouth. The release comes through petition rather than through force, which is the pattern the whole collection keeps returning to.

वाहन प्रभु के सात सुजाना । जग दिग्गज गर्दभ मृग स्वाना ॥

Vaahan prabhu kay saah sujana, jag dhigaj gadharbh mragh swaana.

The lord has seven mounts, wisely known: horse, elephant, donkey, deer, dog,

जम्बुक सिंह आदि नख धारी । सो फल ज्योतिष कहत पुकारी ॥

Jambuk singh aadhi nakh dhari, so phal jyothish kahath pukari.

jackal and lion, the clawed ones. Astrology declares aloud the fruit of each. That there are seven is itself the point: no single mount is canonical.

गज वाहन लक्श्मी गृह आवैं । हय ते सुख सम्पत्ति उपजावैं ॥

Gaj vahan lakshmi gruha aavai, hay thay sukh sampathi upjaavay.

With the elephant, Lakshmi comes to the house; with the horse, ease and prosperity arise.

गर्दभ हानि करै बहु काजा । सिंह सिद्धकर राज समाजा ॥

Gadharbh haani karai bahu kaaja, singh sidh kar raaj samaja.

The donkey brings loss to many undertakings; the lion brings accomplishment and standing.

जम्बुक बुद्धि नष्ट कर डारै । मृग दे कष्ट प्राण संहारै ॥

Jhambuk budhi nasht kar darai, mrag dhe kasht praan sangharay.

The jackal destroys judgement; the deer gives affliction that presses upon life itself.

जब आवहिं प्रभु स्वान सवारी । चोरी आदि होय डर भारी ॥

Jab aavahi prabu swaan savaari, chori aadi hoy dar bhaari.

When the lord comes riding the dog, theft and the like occur, and great fear.

तैसहि चारी चरण यह नामा । स्वर्ण लौह चाँदि अरु तामा ॥

Thaishi chaari charan yeh naama, swarn laoh chaandhi aru taama.

So too there are four "feet" by name: gold, iron, silver and copper.

लौह चरण पर जब प्रभु आवैं । धन जन सम्पत्ति नष्ट करावैं ॥

Lauh charan par jab prabu aavain, daan jan sampathi nashta karavain.

When the lord comes upon the iron foot, wealth, people and property are ruined.

समता ताम्र रजत शुभकारी । स्वर्ण सर्व सुख मंगल भारी ॥

Samatha thaamra rajath shubhkari, swarn sarva sukh mangal bhaari.

Copper brings evenness and silver is auspicious; gold brings every ease and great good fortune.

जो यह शनि चरित्र नित गावै । कबहुं न दशा निकृष्ट सतावै ॥

Jo yeh shani charithra nith gavai, kabahu na dasha nikrushta sathavai.

Whoever sings this account of Shani daily is never tormented by a wretched period.

अद्भूत नाथ दिखावैं लीला । करैं शत्रु के नशिब बलि ढीला ॥

Adhbuth nath dhikavain leela, karaen shaatru kay nashi bhali dheela.

The wondrous lord shows his play, and loosens the hold of an enemy's fortune.

जो पण्डित सुयोग्य बुलवाई । विधिवत शनि ग्रह शांति कराई ॥

Jo pundith suyogya bulvaayi vidhyvath shani graha shanti karayi.

Whoever calls a well-qualified pandit and has the Shani graha shanti performed according to rule,

पीपल जल शनि दिवस चढ़ावत । दीप दान दै बहु सुख पावत ॥

Peepal jal shani diwas chadavath, deep dhaan dai bahu sukh pawath.

offering water at the peepal on Shani's day, and giving the lamp in charity, obtains much ease. These are the only remedies the Chalisa itself prescribes.

कहत राम सुन्दर प्रभु दासा । शनि सुमिरत सुख होत प्रकाशा ॥

Kahath Ram Sundhar prabu dasa, Shani sumirath sukh hoth prakasha.

Says Ram, servant of the beautiful lord: remembering Shani, ease comes to light.

पाठ शनीश्चर देव को कीन्हों विमल तैयार । करत पाठ चालीस दिन हो भवसागर पार ॥

Paath Shanichar Dev ko, ko hoon Vimal Taiyaar. Karat Paath Chalis Din, ho Bhav Sagar Paar

Vimal prepared this recitation of Lord Shanishchara; reciting it for forty days, one crosses the ocean of existence. Some editions read की हों भक्त तैयार instead, "let the devotee be made ready", on which the text names no author at all. Both readings are in print.

जो स्तुति दशरथ जी कियो सम्मुख शनि निहार । सरस सुभाष में वही ललिता लिखें सुधार ॥

Jo stuti daśaratha jī kiyo sammukha śani nihāra, sarasa subhāṣa meṃ vahī lalitā likheṃ sudhāra.

The praise that Dasharath made, facing Shani: that same one Lalita writes, refined, in sweet speech. This second closing doha links the Chalisa to the separate Dashrath Krit Shani Stotra, which we publish in full, and names Lalita as a reviser rather than the composer.