
Lord Shani is the god of justice and karma and one of the “Navagrahas” of Vedic Astrology and is said to be the ruler saturna slow-moving planet. Shani dev is known for his tenacity 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, always stood out among others. He has dedication, spiritual qualities, a strong sense of right and wrong, and more divine qualities. It is also believed that Lord Shani’s gaze or his ‘drishti’ has great power to change people’s lives. While some people say that Lord Shani brings trials and misfortune, more people believe that Lord Shani only tests people, makes them stronger and more guided, and gives them better clarity and wisdom.
The period of Lord Shani and Sadh Sati
One of the most terrifying periods in one’s life is the Sadh Sati period. Sade sati is basically a period of around 7.5 years where a person goes through intense trials and tribulations and proves himself in the eyes of Shani dev.
Again, while many people like to believe that this is a tough time and Lord Shani Dev is doing all the wrong things in your life, it is better to view it as a challenging phase and Shani Dev teaches you all Knowledge about spiritual growth and help you improve and change your karma.
The name “Shanishchar”

Image generated using CoPilot AI
Shani Dev is popularly known as “shanishchar“, which translates as “slow-moving”. When Shanishchar entered the charts, it would stay there for about 2.5 years, and this time it was a period of extreme struggle. It is said that this slow, gradual movement was like that of his role as God , examine people’s karma over a period of time and take revenge on wrongdoings.
But, have you ever wondered why Shani dev is so slow? Why was he given the name “Shanishchar” and the reputation of being slow? Here we mention some examples and legends detailing the origin of this name.
Scientific reasons for logical brain
For those who believe in logic and science but still want to keep an eye on the horoscope and religious beliefs, Shani Dev is known as ‘Shanishchar’ because of his place in the planetary system. According to one view, Lord Shani and his rule over Saturn are responsible for this slow progress.
Since Saturn is located at the 6th distance from the Sun, the difference between the two is huge. Since distance is calculated based on the time it takes to orbit the Sun, Saturn takes quite a long time to complete its orbit.
and based on NASA“A day on Saturn takes only 10.7 hours (the time it takes for Saturn to rotate, or rotate once), and Saturn takes approximately 29.4 Earth years to orbit the sun (a year in Saturn time).”
Therefore, the extremely long time it takes for Saturn to complete its orbit is equated to the slowness of Lord Shani and hence his name to some is Shanichar.
Pippalard’s story
Another very interesting story comes from Pippalard, his son master landhe gave up his life to protect Devta.
An X account named “Right Singh” shared the story, and many different versions have been found in popular lore and personal beliefs.
The story goes like this – when the gods found Rishi Dadichi, they made a request. The demon (Asura) started raining hell from the sky and the only way to kill him was through the bones of the saint. Through his bones, Astra (weapon) can be created to kill the demon Vritra.
It is believed that sage Dadiji then asked a sacred cow named ‘Surabhi’ to lick off the flesh from his body and the remaining bones could be used to make astra. When this happened, Rishi Dadhichi had to give up his life and his wife could not bear the sight and she jumped into the funeral pyre with him, leaving behind a little boy. She placed the boy under the lime tree and jumped into the pyre with her husband.

Image generated using CoPilot AI
The little boy grew up eating the fruits and leaves of the lime tree and remained undiscovered for a long time. But one day Narad Muni saw him and came up to ask who he was. Not getting an answer, Narad Muni meditated to know his name and identity.
After some time Narad came to know the truth behind the boy and told him everything.
First, Narad Muni gave him the name Piparad because he lived and survived under the Bodhi tree, eating its fruits and taking refuge under the tree.
When Pippalad asked Narad Muni why all this happened to him, Narad said it was because of Shani’s influence. Pippalard was angry and wanted revenge. So he prayed, meditated, and performed extreme penance to the Creator Brahma. Eventually, Pippalade received a gift that would burn anyone he saw angry into flames.
With his favor, Pippalad wanted to reduce Shani to ashes and so he tried to do the same. But soon all the gods came to save Shani Dev and Brahma agreed to give him another boon if Piparad did not disturb Shani Dev.

Piparad prayed to Brahma for boons, which remains a common belief today. The good thing is – children below 5 years of age should not have Lord Shani in their horoscope and it will not affect them negatively till a certain age. All Pippalard wanted at the time was to save other children from the fate he had to endure. Therefore, Brahma granted him this boon.
But unfortunately, Piparad angrily looked at Shanidev’s feet and his crow Vahana, causing the crow to lose its balance and Shanidev fall from the height.
From that day Lord Shani became Shanishchara, the slow man.
The waiting of time and karma

Image generated using CoPilot AI
Another famous story and belief that explains why Lord Shani is called “Shanishchara” (slow moving) is because your karma, your past deeds, deeds and things you have done slowly move in your horoscope accumulate in and appear on you.
When you do something bad today, you won’t pay the price right away. In fact, this isn’t going to happen for the next few days! Bad karma, actions, deeds, slowly creep up on you, knocking you down and leaving you feeling helpless and depressed. Since your karma upgrade is equivalent to Shani dev and his actions, he is called Shanishchara, who acts slowly and teaches people a lesson during the Sadh Sati period.
story Yamraj
Another popular belief that explains why Shani dev became Shanishchara is about a fight in childhood!
According to a popular legend, Lord Surya had two wives – Sanjana and her shadow Jaya, who unexpectedly became his wife. When Shani Dev was born, he had a darker complexion compared to his other siblings because his mother was not Sanjana but Jaya. The way people understand it is that since ‘Chhaya’ or shadow is dark, no matter how bright it is, Lord Shani has the color of his mother.
Legend has it that Lord Shani once fought with his stepbrother Yamraj, the god of death, who is also believed to be the son of Lord Surya. When Yamraj could not defeat Shani, he pushed Shani down, causing Shani dev’s foot to be injured. From that point on, he had to take his time.
Some stories say that Yamraj pushed Shani down the slope, others say that he chopped Shanidev’s feet with an axe, and there are many different versions of the story from different regions.
And so, through curses, through battles, through distance from the sun, and many more hidden, little-known stories, people begin to understand that Shani Dev moves slowly and takes years to right people’s lives. and karmic reasons.
!(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) { function loadFBEvents(isFBCampaignActive) { if (!isFBCampaignActive) { return; } (function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) { if (f.fbq) return; n = f.fbq = function() { n.callMethod ? n.callMethod(...arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments); }; if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.push = n; n.loaded = !0; n.version = '2.0'; n.queue = (); t = b.createElement(e); t.async = !0; t.defer = !0; t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0); s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s); })(f, b, e, 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js', n, t, s); fbq('init', '593671331875494'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); };
function loadGtagEvents(isGoogleCampaignActive) { if (!isGoogleCampaignActive) { return; } var id = document.getElementById('toi-plus-google-campaign'); if (id) { return; } (function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) { t = b.createElement(e); t.async = !0; t.defer = !0; t.src = v; t.id = 'toi-plus-google-campaign'; s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0); s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s); })(f, b, e, 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-877820074', n, t, s); };
function loadSurvicateJs(allowedSurvicateSections = ()){ const section = window.location.pathname.split('/')(1) const isHomePageAllowed = window.location.pathname === '/' && allowedSurvicateSections.includes('homepage')
if(allowedSurvicateSections.includes(section) || isHomePageAllowed){ (function(w) {
function setAttributes() { var prime_user_status = window.isPrime ? 'paid' : 'free' ; w._sva.setVisitorTraits({ toi_user_subscription_status : prime_user_status }); }
if (w._sva && w._sva.setVisitorTraits) { setAttributes(); } else { w.addEventListener("SurvicateReady", setAttributes); }
var s = document.createElement('script'); s.src="https://survey.survicate.com/workspaces/0be6ae9845d14a7c8ff08a7a00bd9b21/web_surveys.js"; s.async = true; var e = document.getElementsByTagName('script')(0); e.parentNode.insertBefore(s, e); })(window); }
}
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {}; var TimesApps = window.TimesApps; TimesApps.toiPlusEvents = function(config) { var isConfigAvailable = "toiplus_site_settings" in f && "isFBCampaignActive" in f.toiplus_site_settings && "isGoogleCampaignActive" in f.toiplus_site_settings; var isPrimeUser = window.isPrime; var isPrimeUserLayout = window.isPrimeUserLayout; if (isConfigAvailable && !isPrimeUser) { loadGtagEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isGoogleCampaignActive); loadFBEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isFBCampaignActive); loadSurvicateJs(f.toiplus_site_settings.allowedSurvicateSections); } else { var JarvisUrl="https://jarvis.indiatimes.com/v1/feeds/toi_plus/site_settings/643526e21443833f0c454615?db_env=published"; window.getFromClient(JarvisUrl, function(config){ if (config) { const allowedSectionSuricate = (isPrimeUserLayout) ? config?.allowedSurvicatePrimeSections : config?.allowedSurvicateSections loadGtagEvents(config?.isGoogleCampaignActive); loadFBEvents(config?.isFBCampaignActive); loadSurvicateJs(allowedSectionSuricate); } }) } }; })( window, document, 'script', );