Shaniशनि

Shani is the Sanskrit name for Saturn.

Karaka (significator) of: discipline and structure, hard work and perseverance, delay and restriction, service and humility, the working class and labour, old age and the passage of time, bones and the nervous system, and loneliness or solitude as a formative condition.

Rules two lagnas: Makara (Capricorn) — Saturn's mooltrikona, associated with ambition, hierarchy, and the patient building of structures over time; and Kumbha (Aquarius) — the more collective, reformist, and humanitarian expression.

Exalted in Tula (Libra) at 20°. Debilitated in Mesha (Aries) at 20°.

Saturn is the slowest of the classical planets, spending roughly two and a half years in each sign. Its transit over the natal Moon — a period classically called Sade Sati — lasts approximately seven and a half years and is one of the most discussed Saturn cycles in Vedic astrology. SahiKundli approaches this period as a time of serious restructuring rather than misfortune, and does not engage with the mortality or life-danger framing found in some classical sources.

For Makara and Kumbha lagnas, Saturn is the lagna lord and therefore functionally beneficial despite being a natural malefic. For other lagnas, its functional role is determined by which houses it rules. See Laghu Parashari for the lagna-by-lagna breakdown.

Used on SahiKundli for: Saturn's placement in houses and signs, ruling planet for Makara and Kumbha lagnas, Sade Sati status, Vimshottari dasha period analysis, and yoga analysis including Sasa (one of the Pancha Mahapurusha yogas).