Who is Ritu mentioned in this Rigvedic verse?

Question

Rig Veda Book 1 Verse 15 is dedicated to Indra but mentions someone or something called Ritu (Ṛtu). Now Ritu generally means season and Reet means the cosmic order and am confused which of these is being referred to here:

1 O INDRA drink the Soma juice with Ṛtu; let the cheering drops Sink deep within, which settle there.

2 Drink from the Purifier's cup, Maruts, with Ṛtu; sanctify The rite, for ye give precious gifts.

3 O Neṣṭar, with thy Dame accept our sacrifice; with Ṛtu drink, For thou art he who giveth wealth.

4 Bring the Gods, Agni; in the three appointed places set them down: Surround them, and with Ṛtu drink.

5 Drink Soma after the Ṛtus, from the Brāhmaṇa's bounty: undissolved, O Indra, is thy friendship's bond.

6 Mitra, Varuṇa, ye whose ways are firm—a Power that none deceives—, With Ṛtu ye have reached the rite.

7 The Soma-pressers, fain for wealth, praise the Wealth-giver in the rite, In sacrifices praise the God.

8 May the Wealth-giver grant to us riches that shall be far renowned. These things we gain, among the Gods.

9 He with the Ṛtu fain would drink, Wealth-giver, from the Neṣṭar's bowl. Haste, give your offering, and depart.

10 As we this fourth time, Wealth-giver, honour thee with the Ṛtus, be A Giver bountiful to us.

11 Drink ye the meath, O Aśvins bright with flames, whose acts are pure, who with Ṛtus accept the sacrifice.

12 With Ṛtu, through the house-fire, thou, kind Giver, guidest sacrifice: Worship the Gods for the pious man.

So my question is Who or what is the Ṛtu mentioned in this particular hymn according to the Vedic commentaries.

Answer 1

Rig Veda Mandala 1- Sukta 15 is hymn to the seasons , as mentioned in The Bṛhad-devatā a summary of deities and myths of the Rig-Veda. We can see the devatas of this hymn are Indra ,Marutganas ,Tvasta ,Agni ,Mitra-Varuna ,Dravinoda and Ashwini Kumaras. The season here is Pratidevata means the seasons themselves is also considered as devata or god.

36 The Rtus are here incidentally praised with the deities.

The central idea of this hymn is that Gods made the seasons and they drink the soma Juice according to different seasons from four different cups. And these seasons are also worshiped as gods.

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This is further confirmed from commentary of Swami Dayananda of this hymn in hindi that " Ritu" word used in this hymn is denoting the seasons only. In his commentary Swami Dayananda is stating the names of the seasons like Vasanta (spring) etc. while explaining the meaning and mention of the word Samvatsara (संवत्सर) (Year) in the mantra.. See page no 233.

Here is the rough translation of his commentary of mantra 1 in english.

इन्द्र सोमं पिब ऋतुना त्वा विशव्न्तिन्द्वव : | मत्सरासस्तदोकस: ||1||

1 O man ! this Indra the creator of time divisions drink the juice of medicinal herbs with seasons like spring etc.

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Conclusion - From all the above explanations its clear that the" Ritu" word mentioned in this sukta is for seasons and this is hymn to the seasons. In vedas the words Ritu (seasons) and Rita are equivalent , but here the word Ritu is used for seasons.