Topic summary
Shani
Shani (Sanskrit: शनि, IAST: Śani), or Shanaishchara (Sanskrit: शनैश्चर, IAST: Śanaiścara), is the divine personification of the planet Saturn in Hinduism, and is one of the nine heavenly objects (Navagraha) in Hindu astrology. Shani is also a male Hindu deity in the Puranas, whose iconography consists of a figure with a dark complexion carrying a sword or danda (sceptre) and sitting on a buffalo or some times on a crow. He is the god of karma, time and retribution, and delivers results depending upon one's thoughts, speech, and deeds. Shani is married to the daughter of gandharvaChitraratha, who cursed him that anyone he gazed upon would face destruction or hardship.