Amalaki (Amla)

Amalaki (Hindi Amla, Anvla; botanical name Phyllanthus emblica, also Emblica officinalis) is the third herb of the Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, coming after haritaki and bibhitaki in the Haritakyadi varga. Its section of four verses gives its twelve names, says it shares the properties of haritaki with some special ones of its own, explains how it balances all three doshas, and gives a rule for the potency of kernels (p. 265, verses 38–41). With haritaki and bibhitaki it makes up triphala, the "three fruits" (p. 266, verse 42).

Names

वयस्यामलकी वृष्या जातीफलरसं शिवम् । धात्रीफलं श्रीफलं च तथामृतफलं स्मृतम् । त्रिष्वामलकमाख्यातं धात्री तिष्यफलाऽमृता ॥ ३८ ॥

The text gives twelve Sanskrit names: Vayasya, Amalaki, Vrishya, Jatiphalarasa, Shiva, Dhatriphala, Shriphala, Amritaphala, Amalaka (the verse notes this form is used in all three grammatical genders), Dhatri, Tishyaphala and Amrita (p. 265, verse 38). Several describe it: Dhatri "the nurse", Amritaphala "fruit of amrita", Shiva "auspicious".

Like haritaki, and more

हरीतकीसमं धात्रीफलं किन्तु विशेषतः । रक्तपित्तप्रमेहघ्नं परं वृष्यं रसायनम् ॥ ३९ ॥

The text says the amalaki fruit has the same properties as haritaki. Beyond those, it is especially used in raktapitta (bleeding disorders) and prameha, and it is called a supreme vrishya (strengthening, good for virility) and rasayana (rejuvenating) (p. 265, verse 39).

How it balances all three doshas

हन्ति वातं तदम्लत्वात्पित्तं माधुर्यशैत्यतः । कफं रूक्षकषायत्वात्फलं धात्र्यास्त्रिदोषजित् ॥ ४० ॥

What in the fruit	Calms
its sour taste (amla)	vata
its sweetness and coolness	pitta
its dryness and astringent taste	kapha

So the fruit of amalaki overcomes all three doshas (tridoshajit) (p. 265, verse 40).

The kernel

यस्य यस्य फलस्येह वीर्यं भवति यादृशम् । तस्य तस्यैव वीर्येण मज्जानमपि निर्दिशेत् ॥ ४१ ॥

The text gives a general rule: whatever potency (virya) a fruit has, its kernel should be taken to have the same (p. 265, verse 41). In the bibhitaki section it also says that amalaki's kernel shares the properties of bibhitaki's kernel: it removes thirst, vomiting, kapha and vata, and is light, astringent and intoxicating (p. 264, verse 37).

The plant

The Hindi commentary of this edition adds notes on the plant (pp. 265–266):

• Botanical name: Phyllanthus emblica Linn., also Emblica officinalis Gaertn., family Euphorbiaceae. English: emblic myrobalan, Indian gooseberry.
• Where it grows: both wild and in gardens in almost every warm part of India, most of all in north India, Awadh, Bihar and the east; along the foot of the Himalaya from Jammu eastwards and south as far as Sri Lanka; also in China and the Malay islands.
• The tree: a handsome medium-sized tree, though wild trees grow taller. The bark is about a quarter inch thick, light grey-brown and flaky; the wood is red and hard. The leaves are small, like tamarind leaves. In spring the old leaves drop and the tree flowers as new leaves come: small greenish-yellow flowers in clusters along the branches, with a faint scent like lemon blossom. The fruit sits close on the branches, round, glossy and marked with six lines; green when unripe, yellowish or reddish when ripe, and black when dried, when it splits into segments and releases small three-sided seeds, which give an oil.
• Growing: raised from seed, doing well in loam with little care; gardens mostly plant grafted trees. Wild fruits weigh up to a tola, grafted ones over five tola; Banarasi amla is held to be the best. Most fruit is picked and sold unripe.
• Constituents: its tannin yields gallic acid, ellagic acid and glucose; it is very rich in vitamin C (600–921 mg per 100 g) and pectin, and the dried powder keeps its vitamin C because the tannin protects it.
• Uses noted: the fresh fruit is described as rejuvenating, strengthening, cooling, a mild laxative and diuretic, used in raktapitta and for the liver; the dried fruit as binding the stool, cooling, kindling digestion and checking bleeding. The commentary describes a rasayana method from Charaka: amla powder soaked again and again in fresh amla juice and dried (at least 21 times), then taken 3–6 masha twice a day with cow's ghee and honey in unequal amounts; Chyavanprash can be used the same way. It lists uses of the juice with sugar candy (painful urination, raktapitta, pitta colic, jaundice, hiccup, vomiting, long-standing constipation), of the powder (piles, diarrhoea, grahani, heavy menstruation, colds), in scurvy, as an eye wash, with loha bhasma in anaemia and jaundice, a leaf decoction for mouth ulcers, tender leaves with buttermilk for indigestion and diarrhoea, and as a paste in retention of urine and raktapradara. It is a main ingredient of Chyavanprash, Amalaki rasayana, Triphala and Dhatri loha.
• Dose given: powder, 3 masha to 1 tola.
• Regional names: Hindi Amla, Anvla, Aura; Bengali Amla, Amloki; Marathi Avale, Avalkathi; Gujarati Amla, Amli; Punjabi Amla, Ambul; Kannada Nelli, Nellikayi; Telugu Usirikaya; Tamil Nellikkai; Assamese Amla, Amlaki; Persian Amlaj.

Sources

• Bhavamishra, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Haritakyadi varga, verses 38–41: p. 265 (scan and text on SarvaKosh); verse 37 on the kernel: p. 264
• Vidyotini Hindi commentary, notes on the plant: pp. 265–266

This page describes what the granth says. It is not medical advice; consult a qualified vaidya before using any remedy.