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.”
