Zohaib Siddique-Rahu AT#1. - Page 42

Saturn or Shani Dev is the planet of Karma. He is a tapaswi. He wants to that every one should obey the path of righteousness. If some one do not follow his lessons, he does not hesitate to punish. He is a strict teacher.

On the other hand, Rahu is materialistic planet. In Vedic text it is known as Shadow planet or chaya graha. It has a special ability to expand the effect of the house or planet sitting with it.He do not like to follow any traditional path. He likes to cross the boundaries. He do not have any moral values. He is always hungry and never becomes satisfied.

It started with a phrase "shaniwat Rahu kujawat Ketu " It means Rahu is similar to saturn and Ketu is similar to Mars. But it has not been discussed or explained in details in the vedic texts. In my small understanding Rahu is a high energy planet. It works as catalyst. It follows the theory of working relentlessly. But it is a mental work. Both saturn and Rahu believes in work. But saturn wants to change the world with physical labor where as Rahu wants to do it with mental labor.

There is another aspect to see it. Rahu is Maya or illusion. Maya or illusion is the main force behind karma. We work for getting something. Maya compels a man to do lot of karma. Saturn is the planet of Karma. He loves rahu because of which people work. Its rahu who drags a man to saturn.