Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.293

v2.c4.293

Pr̥śni-parṇī (‘having a speckled leaf’) is the name of a plant mentioned in a hymn of the Atharvaveda¹ as a protection against evil beings procuring abortion, called Kaṇvas (presumably a sign of hostility to the Kaṇva family).² It also appears in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa,³ being identified with *Hermionitis cordifolia* by the St. Petersburg Dictionary, but Roth⁴ in a subsequent contribution suggests that it is the same as a plant later called lakṣmaṇā, and regarded as curing barrenness. The scholiast on the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra⁵ thinks that the Glycine debilis is meant.