As a Shani remedy, especially for people undergoing ShaniMahadasha, it issuggested that they offer "oil to Shani" on Saturdays in order to please Lord Shani.In most towns of India, every few kilometres you would find a Shani temple wherepeople queue up to pour oil to a Shani idol on Saturday.
I had a long time debating if I should or should not write this, but I guess the timehas come to talk about this, as many people may be suffering because of this.And I would be the first to admit, I used to do it as well, for a very long time. It waslater in my research that I realized that this remedy might not make Shani happy,on the contrary, this can irritate the Lord of Justice and Frugality, and may evenbackfire on the native.
I had mentioned this in my book, but putting this out in the public domain at therisk of inviting criticism and ridicule. I have done a lot of foolishness in my life, andhave faced a lot of ridicule. A little more won't hurt, I am a thick skinned idiot. (Feelfree to oppose and criticise me in the comments, I am more wrong than mostpeople I know.) Thank you Ketu Dev for taking away my crazy ego. I regularlykeep getting reality checks from my close friends and critics, lest the ShukraDasamakes things go to my head. It helps to remember lessons of Ketu. Anyway, backto Shani and the oil remedy.
The only place this ritual should be done is at ShaniShignapur, the palce relatedto Lord Shani in Maharashtra. Out there, it is an old tradition, to pour oil overShani's idol which is standing in form of a solid black rock. It is a time honouredtradition to offer oil to this idol.
Legend has it that Lord Hanuman defeated Lord Shani in a fight, and later offeredoil to him in order to heal him. Thus donating oil is considered pleasing for Shani.
In my humble opinion, this tradition is applicable only to this siddha place and should be donehere only and Should NOT be followed at other temples.The bigger issue is with the way it is done in most places,there is a worry that it might backfire
Many such local small time Shani temples have a "Recycle System" that wouldcollect all the poured oil one Saturday, and would sell them back to you in thesame bottles, next week. Now not only are you wasting oil and supporting a scam,you are also pouring dirty oil over Shani idol. Shani, the Lord of frugality andjustice hates wastage and scam. Please don't be a part of the crowd who doesthis.
There are other better ways of doing charity with oil.
You can donate refined oil to any Gurudwara, the Sikh temples which usually feedall without any charge as a part of Langar.
OR
You can donate to the Priest of any Hanuman or Shiva temple. Never mind whatthe media and movies tell you, poor Hindu priests aren't all evil. Most of them arepoor and struggle to feed their families. Please be generous to them in donation,and you can give this oil and preferably black lentil along with it to them on aSaturday. Remember even the priests need to eat.
OR
If you are the type that likes to give things with your own hands, you can get somefried food donated to the poor and hungry Preferably the hard working poor e.g.labourers, sweepers etc.
The above three, in my view are much better remedies than the usual "pouring oil".
And if my friend you are an astrologer, try to change this approach don't supportscam and waste, ensure your remedies are such that this oil reaches those whoneed it and is put to a good use, Lord Shani would be pleased.
Feel free to share your thoughts around this in the comments.
God Bless,
G. Vijay Kumar