Grīshma
Grīshma, “the hot season”
Śiśira has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śiśira.
Grammar: masculine noun, “the hot season”.
Meaning: the hot season, one of the six ṛtus (seasons) of the year; in the Agni Purāṇa’s order it follows vasanta (spring) and comes before varsha (the rains).
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa speaks of grīshma in its teaching of Āyurveda, of trees and of horses, and in its own phalaśruti.
The season and the doshas. Dhanvantari teaches Suśruta that kapha has its accumulation, aggravation and pacification in śiśira, vasanta and grīshma in order, so that kapha is pacified in grīshma; and that vāyu has its accumulation, aggravation and pacification in grīshma, varsha and śarad, so that vāyu accumulates in grīshma. The three seasons from śiśira to grīshma are ādāna-kāla, the time of taking, which is āgneya (of fire, heating); in them Sūrya increases the bitter, astringent and pungent rasas in the oshadhis (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 280). One of vāta nature should have massage in grīshma, and in grīshma in a special way (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 281).
The care of trees. Arishṭa, aśoka, punnāga, śirīsha, priyaṅgu, plantain, jambū, vakula and pomegranate trees, once planted, are watered once a day in grīshma, and in varsha at night if the ground has dried (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 282).
The care of horses. Hemanta, śiśira and vasanta are good for first mounting a horse; in grīshma, śarad and varsha mounting is forbidden (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288). Śālihotra tells Suśruta that in grīshma the horse is given as pratipāna (its after-drink) a fermented drink with priyaṅgu, pippalī, lodhra, yashṭi, śuṇṭhī and jaggery. A horse afflicted by pitta aggravated in grīshma is given ghee to drink, and in śarad and grīshma ghee is the horse’s sneha (unctuous drink). In grīshma the horse is bathed and given its drink three times a day, and bathed standing a long time in full water (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 289).
The fruit of hearing the Purāṇa. At the close of the Agni Purāṇa, Agnideva tells Vasishṭha the fruit of hearing it season by season, after pūjā to the book with sandal and flowers: one who hears it in grīshma gains the fruit of the Vājapeya yajña (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 383).
Related terms: Ṛtu · Vasanta · Varsha · Śarad · Hemanta · Śiśira · Dosha
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 280–282, 288–289, 383