Hemanta
Hemanta, “the early winter”
Śiśira has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śiśira.
Grammar: masculine noun, “the early winter”.
Meaning: the early winter, one of the six ṛtus (seasons) of the year; in the Agni Purāṇa’s order it follows śarad (autumn) and comes before śiśira (late winter).
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names hemanta in a vrata, in its teaching of Āyurveda and of horses, and in its own phalaśruti.
The season and the doshas. Dhanvantari teaches Suśruta that pitta has its accumulation, aggravation and pacification in varsha, śarad and hemanta in order, so that pitta is pacified in hemanta. The three seasons from varsha to hemanta are visarga-kāla, the time of releasing, which is saumya (of the moon, cooling); in them Candra produces the sour, salt and sweet rasas in the oshadhis. As the nights grow longer, the strength of the oshadhis grows (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 280).
The Agni vrata. In the Agni vrata one gives firewood in the seasons varshā, śarad, hemanta and śiśira, and at the end of the vrata a ghṛta-dhenu, a cow made of ghee; one who keeps it is born a brāhmaṇa in the next birth (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 199).
The care of horses. Hemanta, śiśira and vasanta are good for first mounting a horse (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 288). Śālihotra tells Suśruta that in hemanta the horse’s pratipāna (after-drink) is of viḍaṅga, pippalī, śatāhvā, lodhra, saindhava and citraka; and that in hemanta and vasanta oil is the horse’s sneha, as ghee is in śarad and grīshma (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 hemanta gains the fruit of the agni-homa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 383).
Related terms: Ṛtu · Śarad · Śiśira · Varsha · Grīshma · Vasanta · Dosha
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 199, 280, 288–289, 383