History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.105

v6.c82.105

As regards the seasons, there are varying statements In Ṛg. I 15 the word 'ṛtunā' occurs several times, but once we have '*ṛtūn*' also 'O Indra' drink Soma according to the seasons from the wealth (i e the richly filled vessel) of the brāhmaṇa' Ṛg. II. 36 and 37 are styled Ṛtavya hymns The Ṛgveda itself names five seasons, viz. Vasanta (X 161 4, X. 90. 6), Grīṣma (X. 90. 6), Prāvṛṣ (VII. 103. 3 and 9), Śarad (over 25 times, as in II. 12, 11, VII. 66 11, X. 161. 4), Hemanta (X. 161. 4), but the Ṛg. does not expressly mention Śiśira Three seasons are metaphorically meant in Ṛg I 164. 48 and six in Ṛg I. 164. 15. The Atharvaveda714a (VI. 55. 2) mentions all the six, but not in the usual order. The Ait Br. says that the year has five ṛtus⁷¹⁵ by putting together Hemanta and Śiśīra. The Maitrāyaṇī Saṃ. in I. 7. 3 speaks of Saṃvatsara as having five ṛtus and again as having six ṛtus and the Śat Br. (II 1.3.16) says that saṃvatsara comprises six ṛtus. In Śatapatha XII. 8.2.33 the ṛtus are said to be three viz Grīṣma, Varṣā and Hemanta and in the very next passage they are said to be six. There is mention of seven ṛtus in Atharvaveda VI. 61 2 But one should not be puzzled by this. The 7th ṛtu is probably meant to represent the 13th intercalary month as it is expressly mentioned in Atharva. (V. 64). Thibaut surprisingly asserts that the lists of the names of the seasons are only priestly inventions and the Vedic texts exhibit no practical use for them (Grundriss p. 11). Thibaut appears to be obsessed with the influence of priests and offers no good reasons why the names should be regarded as inventions and not as correctly registering what was current in the then society In Tai S⁷¹⁶ IV 4 11.1 the six ṛtus with two months for each are mentioned. Vasanta is mentioned as the first of ṛtus (mukham vā etad-ṛtūnāṃ yad-vasantaḥ) in Tai. Br I. 1.2.6. The Śatapatha⁷¹⁷ provides that Vasanta, Grīṣma and Varṣā are the seasons of gods, Śarad, Hemanta and Śiśira are seasons of the pitṛs; similarly the bright half of a month, the day and the forenoon of a day are the times for gods and the dark half of a month, the night, the afternoon of a day are the times for pitṛs and it winds up with the prescription that a brāhmaṇa should consecrate the sacred fires in Vasanta, a kṣatriya in Grīṣma and a vaiśya in Śarad.⁷¹⁸ At least as early as the edicts of Aśoka the words 'varṣā' (which etymologically means 'rains') and 'saṁvatsara' are both used in the same sense viz. a year in the Brahmagiri inscription (vide C. I. I. I. p. 175).