शनिवार व्रत कथा (प्रत्येक शनिवार) · Shanivar Vrat Katha (Every Saturday)

The Saturday vow is dedicated to Shani Dev, and is kept to pacify his inauspicious gaze. On this day, black sesame seeds, black cloth, oil, and urad dal — considered especially dear to Shani Dev — are offered. Reciting the Shani Stotra is said to be especially fruitful as part of this vow. After the puja, one should hear the story of this vow with devotion.

Once the nine planetary deities — Surya, Chandra, Mangal, Budh, Brihaspati, Shukra, Shani, Rahu, and Ketu — fell into a dispute over who among them was greatest. When Indra could not settle it, he sent them all to King Vikramaditya on earth to judge. Uncertain how to rank them without giving offense, the king had nine thrones built from nine different metals — from gold down to iron — and seated each planet in turn according to their metal. Shani Dev was given the lowest seat, the iron throne, and grew furious at this. Boasting of his power, he declared that he himself had made even Bhagwan Ram suffer exile through the influence of Sadhesati, and had eventually brought about the destruction of Ravana's lineage. So saying, he vowed revenge upon King Vikramaditya.

In time, when King Vikramaditya's own Sadhesati began, Shani Dev appeared before him disguised as a horse trader and gifted him an enchanted horse. No sooner had the king mounted it than it bolted uncontrollably, carrying him deep into a desolate forest before vanishing, leaving him stranded and alone. Hungry, thirsty, and helpless, the king met a cowherd along the way, who gave him water; in gratitude, the king gave him his own ring. Somehow reaching a city after this, the king, concealing his true identity, took work at a merchant's shop under the name 'Bika.'

One day, a precious necklace hanging in the merchant's shop mysteriously vanished — this too was Shani Dev's illusion. Suspicion fell on Bika, and the city's king, without proper investigation, ordered his hands and feet to be cut off. Maimed in this way, Bika was taken in by an oil-presser, who set him to work driving the oil-press like a bull. Despite his wretched state, Bika sang sweetly as he worked the press, and a princess of the city, hearing his voice, fell in love with him. When she learned through her maid that the singer was a disabled laborer, she still insisted on marrying no one but him. Her parents objected at first, but relented when she threatened to give up food entirely, and her marriage to this laborer, known as 'Chaurangiya,' was arranged.

On the wedding night, Shani Dev appeared in Bika's dream, and, satisfied by his long suffering, forgave him. He withdrew his illusion, and Bika's hands and feet were restored exactly as before. Finding himself whole and unharmed once more, Bika revealed his true identity to the astonished princess — that he was in fact King Vikramaditya. The very merchant who had once had him falsely accused of theft was also present; he begged forgiveness, and Vikramaditya pardoned him, explaining that it had all been Shani Dev's doing, and that the merchant bore no fault. At that same celebration, the missing necklace mysteriously reappeared, putting the merchant's own doubts to rest forever.

Pleased, the merchant also gave his second daughter, Shri Devi, in marriage to Vikramaditya, along with a substantial dowry. In this way, King Vikramaditya returned triumphant to his capital, Ujjain, with both queens, and established the worship of Shani Dev throughout his kingdom. Whoever observes the Saturday vow with devotion, or hears this story, is freed from every hardship and attains happiness and prosperity by Shani Dev's grace, and his inauspicious gaze never falls upon them.