The village priest, an old man named Vṛddha, explained: “Shani is neither cruel nor kind. He is the dispenser of results—the balance-keeper. He comes to teach responsibility. Treat him with respect, and his lessons will be gentle; ignore him, and they will be harsh.” Still, fear ran deeper than understanding.
Long ago, when gods and sages still walked the earth and the stars were watched as living beings, a village lay at the edge of a dense forest. The people there lived simply but in constant anxiety: every Saturday a shadow crossed their fields, crops withered overnight, and newborns cried more than usual. They called that shadow Shani.
Among the villagers lived a weaver named Anaya. She was known for steady hands, an open heart, and a stubborn refusal to blame luck for sorrow. When her son fell ill and the harvest failed after a particularly dark Saturday, Anaya refused to accept the village’s belief that Shani