Vedic Art Print – Prishniparni, The Lilac-Flowered Herb

Provenance

'Prishniparni' is composed as a botanical plate: an upright, many-stemmed herb with spikes of lilac-pink flowers stands over its root system on a parchment-toned ground, with a flower, a petal, a flower spike, a leaf, a chain of seed pods, loose seeds and a cut root set around it. The Devanagari word 'पृश्निपर्णी' is lettered below with a reference to the Atharvaveda, 2.25, a charm that invokes Prishniparni against harmful beings that threaten life and birth. The print lets the tall flower spikes lead the eye upward.

Four tall spikes of small, pea-like flowers in lilac and pink rise above slender leaves, each marked with a pale central stripe, on branching stems. A thick root with a mass of fine rootlets anchors the plant at the base. At the edges sit a single open flower and a petal at upper left, a beaded chain of seed pods with an opened pod and brown seeds, whole and halved, at left, a flower spike and a single leaf at right, and a cut piece of root at lower right.

Lilac and rose flowers sit against sage-green leaves with silvery centres, tan roots and olive pods, on ochre-cream parchment. Fine pen lines describe each leaf and rootlet, and the faint mottling of the ground is visible in the image itself.