I
Concentric before decorative.
Every square is laid inside its circle first; ornament is the last hand to touch the ground, never the first.
II
Gold from a single leaf.
One ground of pigment carries every line of script — the border is one continuous field, not forty syllables stacked.
III
Dark ground reads as lacquer.
The aubergine field is burnished, not painted — depth comes from layers of gum and soot, set to dry for a season.
IV
Ranjana runs vertically.
The mantra border hangs from the top edge and descends — script is architecture here, not text the eye is asked to read.