Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa ("of a hundred paths") 1.5.3.12

1.5.3.12

atha barhiryajati | śaradvai barhiriti hi śaradbarhiryā imāoṣadhayo grīṣmahemantābhyāṃ nityaktā bhavanti tā varṣā vardhante tāḥ śaradi barhiṣo rūpaṃ prastīrṇāḥ śere ta!smācaradbarhiḥ śaradameva taddevā avṛñjata śaradaḥ sapatnāntarāyaṃcaradamevaiṣa etadvṛṅkte śaradaḥ sapatnānantareti tasmādbarhiryajati

He then pronounces the offering-prayer to the Barhis (covering of sacrificial grass on the altar). The barhis, doubtless, is the autumn; the barhis is the autumn, inasmuch as these plants which shrink during the summer and winter grow by the rains, and in autumn lie spread open after the fashion of barhis: for this reason the barhis is the autumn. The gods, at that time, appropriated the autumn, and deprived their rivals of the autumn; and now this one also appropriates the autumn, and deprives his rivals of the autumn: this is why he pronounces the prayer to the barhis.