Srivatsa roams in the forest

One day when the king had finished his bath, when a black dog came and licked the bath water. This was the moment Shani was waiting for. Shani looked at Srivatsa. His sight was terrible. Temples started breaking. House started cracking up. Suddenly things would catch fire. No clouds, but rain started. Comets were seen in the sky, in the daytime, which was a very bad omen. Animals started dying.
The subjects came to Srivatsa and wanted to know what to do. The king went around for three days and nights, visiting each house. He then came back. His queen started grieving.
The king there was no point in crying. One who was born, was destined to die. He asked his queen to gather all valuable gems and clothes and all the wealth that she could get her hand on. He told her to make a bundle out of that.
He then asked her to go to her parents house. He said once the sight of Shani was removed, he would join her there.
The queen said in this time of calamity she would not leave him.
The king agreed.

In the middle of the night, the king decided to leave the palace. Lakshmi appeared before him and said wherever he went, she would go with him, but would remain invisible. She also said that he would suffer because of the effect of Shani and soon that would be gone, and he would get everything back.

With the bundle on his head, the king and queen left the palace in the middle of the night, and started going towards the forest. Never having walked bare foot on ground, they faced hardships but still managed till they came across a river called Maya. This was a huge river and they were not sure how to cross it. Shani then came there in the guise of a boatman. He agreed to take them across. He also said his boat was old and weak and he would not be able to take them all together. He could take them across in turns. He said he would take their bundle first, leave it on the other bank and then come back for them.

Shani took the bundle and started, and suddenly both the river and the boatman all vanished.

The king was sad. Controlling himself, he and his queen continued their journey.

Soon dawn broke. The queen said she was hungry and thirty and would not be able to move anymore. They decided to rest where they were. They saw a lake with flowers blooming in it. They had a bath in the water. The king went and gathered some fruits and after eating that and drinking some water from the lake, they felt refreshed and resumed their journey.

They soon reached a very dense and dark forest. Scared, the king remembered Vishnu in his mind. A voice was heard which said - Till you stay in the forest, I will remain with you.

Feeling satisfied and content, the king carried on.

One day the king and his wife, saw few fishermen going to catch fish. The king asked the fishermen to spare a fish. The fishermen said they had placed their nets at a wrong time and had not caught anything.

The king asked the fishermen to try again, taking the names of Taal and Betaala in his mind. The fishermen did that, and the net was heavy with fish. The fishermen said Srivatsa was a very holy person and gladly game some fish to the couple, and went.

The king asked his queen to roast the fish so that could make a meal out of it.
The queen said she had heard that eating roasted fish would ward off Shani's evil eye.

The queen while roasting the fish, wondered how the king who had been used to the choicest of meals would be able to eat burnt fish. She decided to wash the roasted fish in the lake and then take it to the king. As soon as the burnt fish touched the water, it came to life and swam away.

The queen did not know what to say to the king. Who would believe that a dead burnt fish could come to life. She was sure the king would say she had eaten up the fish.
When she went to the king and told him what had happened, he was surprised and started laughing.