Varshā
Varshā, “the rains”
Grammar: feminine noun, from the root vṛsh (to rain): “the rains”.
Meaning: the rainy season, one of the six ṛtus (seasons) of the year, coming after grīshma (summer) and before śarad (autumn). It is also called varshā ṛtu.
In the scriptures: the Brahma Purāṇa names the rains among the seasons in the glory of Sūrya and in Brahmā‘s own yajña.
Sūrya’s colour in the rains. Brahmā tells the munis that Bhāskara, who draws up the waters, keeps the work of the world going, and that he takes a colour in each of the six seasons: tawny in vasanta, golden in grīshma, white in varshā, pale in śarad, the colour of copper in hemanta and red in śiśira. By these colours, which arise from the nature of each season, Sūrya brings welfare and plenty (Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 31).
The barhis of Brahmā’s yajña. Brahmā tells Nārada of the yajña he performed at Brahmagiri, by the Gautamī, after he had remembered the Purusha Sūkta. To complete the yajña he divided his body in two, and the seasons became its materials: vasanta was the ājya (ghee), grīshma the idhma (fuel), śarad the havis, and the rainy season was the barhis, the kuśa grass spread for the yajña (Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91).
Related terms: Ṛtu · Varshā Ṛtu · Vasanta · Grīshma · Śarad · Barhis
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 31; Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91