Pippalāda’s Ten Names of Śani
Śani Daśa Nāma · śani daśa nāma, “the ten names of Śani”
Pippalāda’s Ten Names of Śani is the one verse with which Pippalāda Muni prayed to the graha Śani, naming him ten times: Koṇastha, Piṅgala, Babhru, Kṛshṇa, Raudra, Antaka, Yama, Sauri, Śanaiścara and Manda. It stands in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Chapter 114, in the account that Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa tells the king.
The verse closes with the prayer that the best of grahas may be pleased with the one who says it.
The setting
Pippalāda, the boy left on the road by his father Kauśika Muni in a famine, performed tapas living on the fruits of the pīpala tree. When Devarshi Nārada told him that the graha Śanaiścara had given him his suffering, he made Śanaiścara fall from the sky by his gaze alone, and Śanaiścara fell on a mountain and became lame. Brahmā came with the devas and told him to set Śanaiścara in the sky as before, for in truth he has no fault.
By Brahmā’s command Pippalāda Muni set Śanaiścara back in his place, and then prayed to him with this verse.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 114
The verse
कोणस्थः पिङ्गलो बभ्रुः कृष्णो रौद्रोऽन्तको यमः।
सौरिः शनैश्चरो मन्दः प्रीयतां मे ग्रहोत्तमः॥koṇasthaḥ piṅgalo babhruḥ kṛshṇo raudro’ntako yamaḥ |
sauriḥ śanaiścaro mandaḥ prīyatāṃ me grahottamaḥ ||Koṇastha, Piṅgala, Babhru, Kṛshṇa, Raudra, Antaka, Yama, Sauri, Śanaiścara, Manda: may the best of grahas be pleased with me.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 114
The ten names
- Koṇastha, he who stands in the corner
- Piṅgala, the tawny one
- Babhru, the brown one
- Kṛshṇa, the dark one
- Raudra, the fierce one
- Antaka, the ender
- Yama
- Sauri, the son of Sūrya
- Śanaiścara, the slow-moving one
- Manda, the slow one
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 114
The phalaśruti
Śrī Kṛshṇa closes the account: whoever hears the Śanaiścara Upākhyāna with bhakti, and makes an iron image of Śani, sets it in an iron kalaśa filled with oil, and gives it to a brāhmaṇa with dakshiṇā, never suffers the affliction of Śani.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 114
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 114