The Greatness of Saturn by Robert E. Svoboda Part IV

The Greatness of Saturn by Robert E. Svoboda

A Therapeutic Method

(Book review 12/2015)

Saturn’s stories of how he administered misery to his Guru and Others

Lord Saturn then said to King Vikrama, “O Vikramaditya! I have not tormented you in the least. Torment is what I gave to my guru. Can you even compare your misery with his? I have also tortured the devas and the asuras and filled them with woe. If you will listen carefully to their stories, you may begin to comprehend my abilities. 

“One morning I went to my guru with folded hands. Saluting him, I said, ‘Guru Maharaj! I bow to you.’

“Guruji said, ‘Yes, my child? Why have you come to me today? Tell me what I can do for you.’

“I said, ‘I am thinking of passing over your Moon.’

“My guru, naturally, got the shock of his lifetime, and said, ‘My son! Have pity on me, and don’t enter the constellation where my Moon sits at all.’

“But Maharaj, I explained to him patiently, ‘that is my duty. I cannot shirk my duty. I cannot spare anyone, not even you. If you are repulsed by the idea of giving me refuge, well then, O Compassionate Lord! How will anyone else allow me to affect them, or obey me? Everyone will insult me. No, I am going to turn my gaze on you within a very short time. That is the way things are ordained. I may be your pupil, but for now, please ask me for grace.’

“Hearing this my Guru Maharaj said with alarm, ‘How long will your gaze be on me?”

“I told him, ‘Seven and a half years.’

“Impossible!” he sputtered.

“He said, ‘Fine, O Saturn! You may stay in my Moon sign for one and a quarter prahars (3 hours and 45 minutes). He commanded me in this way, thinking to himself, ‘How will my disciple be able to torment me if I pass these few hours bathing and meditating?’

“But I came to know what he was thinking, and his arrogance so hardened my heart that it steeled my resolve. ‘Very good, O Great Guru!” I said to myself. ‘Because you have decided to try to cheat me you will now have to see what sort of prowess I possess and what wonders I can perform!”

“When the time arrived for me to bother my guru he thought to himself, ‘I believe that I shall go down to the Plane Where People Die (Earth), where the river Ganga flows, and take my bath there. By the time I finish bathing my period of punishment will be over. ‘So he headed for Earth and the river Ganga.

“Taking the form of a melon merchant, I met him along his way, and when my shadow fell on him, changes began to occur in his body and his mind. I showed him two small watermelons, which I cut open slightly to show how good they were. Seeing their sticky red juice run down, my guru became pleased with those melons. He gave me two small coins for them, put them into his bag, and continued onward to Ganga. I disappeared. After bathing in the River Ganga my guru filled his water pot with Ganga water and, carrying those two watermelons in his bag, headed for the nearby town.

“When the soldiers asked my guru, ‘Great sage! What is in your bag? He replied, ‘Two watermelons for me to dine on later.’ But the soldiers remonstrated, ‘Then why is blood dripping from your bag, O butcher! Are you a Brahmana or Brahmarakshasa? Show us what is in that bag forthwith!’ ‘Then the soldiers snatched the bag from my guru’s arm, and when they opened it they found the heads of the two young men they were searching for.’ ‘Then those soldiers bound my guru and, flogging him at every step, marched him back to the palace, where they told the king, ‘This base, vile man has murdered your son and the prime minister’s son.”

“Meanwhile, in another part of the palace the prince’s wife, on hearing of his death, decided to immolate herself on his funeral pyre. Sorrow spread through the town on the heels of the news, and outside of town a crowd gathered to see the prince’s murderer. They rained stones and clods of dirt on my guru, reviling him thus: ‘This is a fiend in Brahamana’s clothes; otherwise how could this rapscallion perform such a terrible deed?’

“My guru was of course extremely depressed at this unexpected, overwhelming reversal of fortune and had not the least idea of what to do about it. So there he stood, eyes downcast, staring distractedly at the ground, when one of the king’s executioners came up to him and said, ‘Great sage, prepare yourself to enjoy the fruits of your evil deeds and mount this stake.’

‘Hearing the word ‘stake’ my guru began to quake uncontrollably, and he said to the executioner, ‘Wait for just a few minutes before you impale me, and if I am saved I will give you ten thousand silver coins. What will happen if you wait a couple of minutes before you skewer me?’ “Dread of the stake had shaken my guru out of his trance of confusion, and he had realized that my agreed-upon time to torture him was almost up. It was because he knew that once my gaze left him completely he would automatically escape that he pleaded too persistently for a postponement.

“By the time the three and three quarters hours of my gaze had expired, and the sons of the king and the prime minister straggled into the palace, where they stood before the king to salute him. Tears of joy filled the king’s eyes, and he commanded a fleet messenger to hurry to the execution ground, saying: “Tell my men not to impale that Brahamana; instead bring him back to me.”

“Guru said, ‘O Lord Saturn! That three and three-fourths hours of your gaze have shattered my bones; who knows what would have happened to me had you spent seven and a half years oppressing my Moon! You have obliged me immensely. You are the most terrible of all the planets, and those whom you seize you torment mercilessly. That which was to happen has happened; but never give anyone this sort of misery again. I have been able to withstand this torture, but no one else could have withstood it. I shall take an oath from you right now that you will not submit anyone else to this degree of anguish.’

“I replied, ‘O Guru! Anyone who is free from arrogance has nothing to fear from me, but anyone who harbors arrogance within will have to suffer as you have suffered. Lord Guru! You tried to be too smart; I had to display my powers to you because of your arrogance. Now pardon this child of yours; I shall never offend you in this way again.’ Having spoken in this way, I took guru’s permission to return to my own world.”

Shiva and Saturn

“Once I went to Lord Shiva and told Him, ‘O Great God’ I want to come and stay with You.’

“Shiva replied, ‘What is the use of you coming to stay with Me? But still, if you insist, first let Me know when you plan to do so, and only then enter Me.’ I agreed. Two days later I came to Him at His home in the city of Benaras and said, ‘Now I am about to enter Your body.’

“On hearing this Shiva jumped at once into the great river Ganga which flows through Benaras, and remained there in Samadhi for seven and a half year. After that period was over He emerged, and said to me, ‘O Saturn! What could you do to Me?

“I told Him, ‘O Great God! Although your writ runs in the three worlds, from fear of me You hid yourself beneath the surface of the Ganga in Samadhi for seven and a half years; would You call that “doing nothing to You?”

“Lord Shiva then saluted me, and thanked me, saying, “Your power is indeed profound. You are without doubt the intensest of the planets, and the average man can never survive your punishment intact.’

“When I began to cross Lord Ramchandra’s Moon, He was forced to live as a hermit in the forest for fourteen long years. O King Vikrama! Have you seen my power yet? Although Ramchandra was an incarnation of God Himself, my torments still made Him miserable.

Ravana and Saturn

“I also displayed my talents to the likes of the ten-headed Ravana; listen, O Vikrama! After Ravana had succeeded in gaining control of all the Nine Planets, he installed us face down on the nine steps which led up to his throne. Every morning when he would ascend his throne, he would step firmly on the back of each one of us, causing us great anguish and insult.

One day divine Narada came to the court and persuaded Ravana to turn the face up of all the planets. By doing so the Saturn’s gaze fell on the Ravana and his mind became perverted. Within the space of a few months he kidnapped Sita. Then Rama invaded Lanka and killed him, and his sons and grandsons were all slaughtered – all as the result of my influence on him during his Seven – and –a- half.

Others tormented by Saturn

“It was in this fashion that a Seven and a half came over King Harischandra. This event so perplexed his mind that he left his kingdom for Benaras, where he was sold into slavery. His wife was also sold, and he had to pass through seven and a half years of tribulations. His wife Taramati became a servant of Brahmana, and he was employed by the ruler of the cremation ground to strip the corpses of their clothes and valuables before they were consigned to the flames. All this was my play.

“Likewise, King Nala had to experience a Seven-and-a-Half, which caused him and his Queen Damyanti to leave their kingdom and encounter profound grief as they wandered in the forests. All this was due to my power, for I ruin those on whom I gaze cruelly.

“I also beset King Indra, the lord of the gods. When my cruel gaze fell on him he got the idea of seducing Gautama Muni’s wife Ahalya, and when Gautama Muni discovered this rape he cursed Indra to be covered with one thousand vaginas.

“When I beleaguered the Moon, he stole Jupiter’s wife, and that black mark was laid against his name. And what of Vasistha, whose hundred sons were slain; or the Rishi Parashara, who copulated with the fishergirl Matsyagandha (‘Fish Odor’); or Arjuna and his four brothers, who had to wander in the forest for many years; or the one hundred Kauravas who were slain by the Pandavas? All these incidents were the fruits of their karmas, which I served up to them during their various Seven-and-a-Half periods. Even Shri Krishna Himself had to suffer contumely during His Seven-and-a-Half, O Vikramaditya! When He was accused of stealing Syamantaka gem.”