Shani Amavasya 13th Feb.
Shani Amavasya is the no moon day that falls on a Saturday (Shanivar) on a traditional Hindu/Vedic calendar. Amavasya is considered inauspicious by many and the fear of Lord Shani is well known as he is believed to create havoc in the life of people. So Amavasya falling on Saturday is considered highly inauspicious by many. In 2010, Shani Amavasya dates are on February 13, 2010, June 12 and November 6, 2010.
People suffering from Pitra Dosha (The Curse of an ancestor) and Kaal Sarpa Dosha (The Curse of a snake) conduct remedial pujas on the day. Various other rituals dedicated to Lord Shani are performed on this day as well.
Performing Shraddha prayers meaning paying tributes to one’s ancestors are considered to bring success, so people perform this ritual on Shani Amavasya. Please the lord that doesn't only give sorrow but also gives happiness on this auspicious day.
This new moon night is a time to heal obstacles and retarding forces in your life. This Shani Amavasya is a great occasion to do some reconfiguring of your karmic balances.
On new moon nights especially those falling on Saturdays create mental imbalance, stress, confusion and chaotic activities in life as well as obstacles to achieving goals. The obstacles arise out of the confusion of mind.
The positive aspect of Amavasya is that the mind being 'absent' (moon=mind), it is capable of being in silent watchful and recording/observing mode when nourished and protected by healing and specific mantras. Mantras are special sound vibration sequences that protect the mind. ('man'= mind, 'tra'= to protect.).
At the same time when a special Upai (rectification) is done, there is reduction and removal of all the negatives. At the same time there the upai enables an ability to access the spiritual nature in a heightened way. Saturn (Shani) energies are very powerful to help create spiritual karma--on this occasion if one approaches Shree Shani for his grace through specific mantras, one can receive much benefit in life.
In the process of this connection, super karma flows into our lives to shift our karmic balance in our favor.
After the following Upai is done during the day between any of these times (07h31 – 13h29 or 15h01 – 16h29), the Shani Amavasya Mantras may be chanted which are given below.
Benefits of the rectification procedure… The following procedure:
Reduces and removes energies of confusion and chaos
Reduces and removes blocking of opportunities and results
Reduces and removes mental ill-health
Creates protection from inimical forces and government action
Creates a situation where inimical forces can be overcome successfully
Next... Gather the materials listed (excluding the oil) and place them on a white cloth. The white cloth should be placed on the black cloth and gathered together in a potli (bag) and its mouth tied securely. You can also use a rubber band to secure the bag and its contents as shown.
Then...do the upai (rectification) as below—
Shani-Amavasya Mantra Chanting:-
Finally, after doing the upai at any time during the day, around sunset you can chant the mantras given below. These are especially powerful to protect the mind on Shani-Amavasya night. (Mantra--'Man'=the mind; 'tra'=to protect from hurt and damage.). Remember to be in the mood that you are approaching Lord Shani (Saturn) and requesting his grace and protection very humbly.
This fast starts from sunrise Saturday 13th February and ends sunrise the following morning. This is a 24-hour fast from salt.
In the morning after bathing you should offer water in a lota (Cup) to Surya Narayana (The Sun). In the lota add a few grains of white rice, sindhur and flowers petals. Stand in front of the Sun and stretch your arms forward and block the Sun with the lota. Close your eyes and visualize that you are offering Him incense, lamp and flower petals. Offer Him fruit, flowers and sweets. Now literally offer the water – still with your eyes closed on Suryadevas’ feet. Now open your eyes. Pray to the Lord to remove any obstacles on your path.
Just before sunset have a bath and put on clean blue/black clothes. Go to your prayer place. Offer incense, lamp or flowers to the Shani-dev picture given above and recite the following mantras to Shani-dev.
Chant the first mantra below as many times as you like - 3, 9, 11, 21 or more times. Next, chant the second, third and fourth mantras as many times as you like as well.
1. Om gan ganapataye namah.
2. Om sham shani-sharaye namah.
3. Shaneshwaraya shantaya, sarvabhista pradayine, sharenya varenyaya, sarveshwaraya namo namah.
4. Aum shanisharaye vidmahe, sooryaputraya dheemahi, tanno manda prachodayat.
To have the full benefits of the fast you should abstain from salt for the entire fasting period of 24 hours. You can consume milk, vermicelli, saigo milk, halva and fruits.
The whole idea about fasting is to abstain from salt. Why you may ask???
Fasting in Hinduism indicates the denial of the physical needs of the body for the sake of spiritual gains. Salt is an integral part of our diet. Abstaining from salt is a huge sacrifice. It is common knowledge that excess salt (sodium) causes hypertension or elevation of blood pressure. Since the point of a fast is to make things better, and not worse in ones life, one should fast according to one’s capacity and circumstances. The best fast is to abstain from everything, including from water, but if ones physical condition will not permit this, then one should rather not try this method. The next best is to consume water only, and the next on fruits only. Thereafter we enter the realm of mono-diets; some of these are inclusive (e.g. milk only), while others are exclusive (e.g. no salt). In this day of age its very difficult for most to abstain from water so the next best thing is to abstain from salt. When one consumes salt on the day that a planet is troubling him/her, he/she becomes like a magnet for that planet to create obstacles on that’s person’s path. On the other hand if one doesn’t have salt then that planet cannot harm that person in any way. So now you can see how important it is not to consume salt on this day.
Abstain from: - Salt or any food items that has salt. So below are the foodstuffs that you can have on this auspicious day but please note that the more strict the fast the greater and quicker the benefits.
You can have water, fresh juices, milk, and fruits.
Milk shakes (you can add banana or avocado), yogurt smoothies
Sweet rice a.k.a kheer
One can have halava a.k.a halva, Suji, and pudding.
Vermicelli.
Tasty wheat porridge with sugar and vanilla essence.
Pancake – without baking powder or self-raising flour.
Potato soup (add thyme and black or white pepper).
Make potato chips and you can add vinegar or lemon juice to it.
Roti without salt. Add ghee or unsalted butter to the dough.
Make salads without salad dressing and fruit salads with cream if you like.
Saigo milk:
After that--Enjoy excellent mental, emotional, physical, karmic and spiritual health!
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