Shani Chalisa in Odia

Victory, victory to kind Shani Dev, who always looks after his devotees.

You have four arms and a dark body, and a jewelled crown shines beautifully on your head.

Your forehead is broad and handsome. Your gaze is slanting and your brows are fierce.

Shani's slanting or lowered gaze (vakra drishti) is a common feature of his description; the Dasharatha stotra also calls him adho-drishti, "the one who looks down".

Earrings sparkle in your ears, and a necklace of pearls and gems gleams on your chest.

BhaktiBharat and Amar Ujala print "हिय माल … दमके".

In your hands are a mace, a trident and an axe, and in a moment you destroy the enemy.

Pingala, Krishna, son of Chhaya, Yama, Konastha, Raudra, breaker of sorrow,

This verse and the next list Shani's ten names. A similar list of ten names closes the Shani stotra of the Brahmanda Purana ("Kono'ntako raudrayamo'tha babhruh…").

Sauri, Manda and Shani: these are your ten names. Those who worship the son of the Sun see their work fulfilled.

When the Lord is pleased with someone, he can turn even a pauper into a king in a moment.

Under his gaze a mountain becomes a blade of grass, and a blade of grass becomes a mountain.

Just as Ram was about to receive the kingdom, he was sent to the forest instead, and even Kaikeyi's good sense was taken away.

From here to chaupai 24 the Chalisa recalls hard times in the lives of great figures, which the poet sees as the working of Shani's influence.

In the forest a false golden deer appeared, and Mother Janaki (Sita) was carried away.

The Shakti weapon struck Lakshman down, and a cry of grief went up through the army.

sanskritdocuments.org and Bharat Discovery print the older spelling "लषणहिं".

Ravana's judgement went astray, and he grew ever more hostile to Shri Ramchandra.

Golden Lanka was turned to dross, and the war drum of brave Bajrang (Hanuman) rang out.

When you set foot upon King Vikram, a peacock in a painting swallowed a necklace.

Chaupais 15 to 18 retell the popular story of King Vikramaditya and Shani: falsely accused of stealing a necklace, he was maimed and made to work an oil press, until he sang Raga Deepak and Shani, pleased, restored him.

He was blamed for stealing the precious nine-lakh necklace, and his hands and feet were broken.

BhaktiBharat prints "डरवाय"; the other three sources have "डरवायो", which also fits the metre.

You showed him a heavy, lowly time, and made him turn the oil press in an oil-maker's house.

sanskritdocuments.org and Bharat Discovery print "तेलहिं"; we follow "तेलिहिं" (at the teli's, the oil-maker's) from BhaktiBharat and Amar Ujala, which fits the story.

When he sang his humble prayer in Raga Deepak, the Lord was pleased and gave him back his happiness.

King Harishchandra's wife was sold, and he himself carried water in the house of a Dom, a keeper of the cremation ground.

In the same way hard times fell upon King Nala, and even a roasted fish leapt back into the water.

When it reached and seized even Shri Shankar, it led Parvati, in her birth as Sati, to give up her body in the fire.

Sati, Parvati in her earlier birth, gave up her body at her father Daksha's yajna.

With a single glance, cast in displeasure, the head of Gauri's son flew off into the sky.

This follows the Brahmavaivarta Purana, where Shani kept his eyes lowered and looked at the infant Ganesh only when Parvati insisted. Other Puranas tell the story of Ganesh's head differently.

When your influence fell upon the Pandavas, Draupadi was nearly stripped in the court, and was saved.

You clouded the minds of the Kauravas too, and brought about the great war of the Mahabharata.

At once the Sun was seized in a mouth and carried, with a leap, down into Patala.

The verse does not say whose mouth it was, and printed commentaries explain chaupais 25 and 26 in different ways.

Seeing this, Shesha, the divine serpent, made a plea, and the Sun was freed from that mouth.

sanskritdocuments.org and Bharat Discovery print "शेष देव- लखि विनति लाई".

Know, wise ones, that the Lord has seven mounts: the elephant, the donkey, the deer, the dog,

Chaupais 27 to 35 repeat beliefs from jyotish about the mount (vahana) and the "foot" (metal) on which Shani arrives. We give them as part of the text; Nitya does not make predictions. BhaktiBharat reads "सात सजाना".

the jackal, the lion and the other clawed beasts. Jyotish declares the fruit of each.

When he comes on the elephant, Lakshmi comes into the home. On the horse, he brings comfort and wealth.

On the donkey he spoils many tasks. On the lion he brings success in royal and public life.

On the jackal he clouds the mind. On the deer he brings suffering and danger to life.

When the Lord comes riding the dog, there is great fear of theft and the like.

Likewise there are four "feet", named gold, iron, silver and copper.

In jyotish the "pada" or "paya" (foot) of a Shani period is named after one of these four metals.

When the Lord comes on the iron foot, wealth, people and property suffer loss.

Copper brings balance, silver brings good fortune, and gold brings every comfort and great blessing.

BhaktiBharat and Amar Ujala print "स्वर्ण सर्व सर्व सुख"; the repeated word breaks the sixteen-beat metre, so we follow sanskritdocuments.org.

Whoever sings this story of Shani every day is never troubled by a low time.

The Lord shows his wonderful play, and the enemy's strength wears away and grows slack.

sanskritdocuments.org and Bharat Discovery print "नशिब"; we follow "नशि" (destroying) with BhaktiBharat and Amar Ujala.

One who invites a learned pandit and has the Shani graha shanti done with the proper rites,

and on Saturdays offers water at the peepal tree and lights a lamp there, finds much happiness.

Ramsundar, servant of the Lord, says: when you remember Shani, happiness shines out.

Most readers take "Ram Sundar" as the poet's name, placed in the last chaupai as poets often did. Nothing reliable is known about him.