Haritaki (Harad)

Haritaki (Hindi Harad, Harar; botanical name Terminalia chebula) is the first herb described in the Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, the materia medica section of Bhavamishra's Bhavaprakasha. Its section, which opens the Haritakyadi varga, covers 35 verses: where haritaki came from, its fifteen names, its seven kinds, its properties, the diseases it is used in, how and with what to take it, a seasonal rasayana plan, and who should not take it (pp. 258–262).

Origin

The section opens with the two Ashvini Kumaras asking Daksha Prajapati where haritaki came from, how many kinds it has, what tastes, names, colours and properties it has, and what it is used for (verses 1–4). Daksha answers that while Indra was drinking amrita, a drop fell to the earth, and from that divine drop arose haritaki of seven kinds.

पपात बिन्दुर्मेदिन्यां शक्रस्य पिबतोऽमृतम् । ततो दिव्यात्समुत्पन्ना सप्तजातिर्हरीतकी ॥ ५ ॥

(p. 258, verses 1–5)

Names

The text gives fifteen Sanskrit names: Haritaki, Abhaya, Pathya, Kayastha, Putana, Amrita, Haimavati, Avyatha, Chetaki, Shreyasi, Shiva, Vayastha, Vijaya, Jivanti and Rohini (p. 258, verses 6–7). Several describe it: Abhaya "the one that removes fear", Pathya "wholesome", Shiva "auspicious".

The seven kinds

Kind	Where it grows	How it looks	Used for
Vijaya	Vindhya hills	round like a gourd	all diseases
Rohini	Pratishthana	round	healing wounds
Putana	Sindhu	small, with a large stone	external pastes (lepa)
Amrita	Champa	fleshy	cleansing therapies (shodhana)
Abhaya	Champa	five ridges	eye diseases
Jivanti	Saurashtra	golden	all diseases
Chetaki	Himalaya	three ridges	as a powder (churna)

The places come from a verse the edition marks as found only in some manuscripts; the shapes and uses from verses 8–12 (pp. 258–259).

Chetaki comes in two colours: a white kind six finger-widths long and a black kind one finger-width long. The text says haritaki can move the bowels in four ways: by taste, smell, touch or sight. It says that people and animals who stand in the shade of a Chetaki tree, or hold its fruit in the hand, are purged at once, and it calls Chetaki the gentlest purgative for kings, delicate or thin people, and those who dislike medicine. Of the seven, Vijaya is the chief: easy to find, easy to use and suited to all diseases (pp. 259–260, verses 13–18).

Properties

हरीतकी पञ्चरसाऽलवणा तुवरा परम् । रूक्षोष्णा दीपनी मेध्या स्वादुपाका रसायनी ॥ १९ ॥

• Rasa (taste): five tastes, all except salty; astringent (kashaya) is the strongest
• Guna (quality): dry (ruksha), light (laghu)
• Virya (potency): hot (ushna)
• Vipaka (post-digestive effect): sweet (madhura)
• Actions: kindles digestion (dipana), good for the intellect (medhya), rejuvenating (rasayana), good for the eyes, prolongs life, nourishing (brimhana), and moves wind and stool downward (anulomana)

(p. 260, verses 19–20)

Conditions it is used in

According to the text, haritaki is used in breathlessness (shvasa), cough (kasa), prameha, piles (arsha), skin disease (kushtha), swelling (shotha), abdominal disease (udara roga), worms (krimi), hoarseness, grahani, constipation (vibandha), intermittent fever (vishama jvara), gulma, bloating, thirst, vomiting, hiccup, itching, heart disease, jaundice (kamala), colic (shula), anaha, disorders of the spleen and liver, urinary stones (ashmari), painful urination (mutrakrichchhra) and retention of urine (mutraghata) (p. 260, verses 20–22).

Why it balances all three doshas

Its sweet, bitter and astringent tastes calm pitta, its pungent, bitter and astringent tastes calm kapha, and its sour taste calms vata. The text then asks why its pungent and sour tastes do not raise pitta and vata, and answers that haritaki removes all three doshas by its special power (prabhava); the reasons based on taste are given only to help students understand. It compares amalaki and lakucha, which have similar tastes but act differently (pp. 260–261, verses 23–26).

Where each taste lies in the fruit

The kernel is sweet, the fibres sour, the stalk bitter, the rind pungent and the stone astringent (p. 261, verse 27).

Choosing good haritaki

The best fruit is fresh, smooth, dense, round and heavy, and sinks when dropped in water. A fruit with these qualities that weighs two karsha is called the finest (p. 261, verses 28–29).

How it is taken

• Chewed: kindles digestion
• Ground into a paste: cleanses the bowels
• Boiled: binds the stool
• Roasted: balances all three doshas
• With food: sharpens the intellect, strength and senses, removes pitta, kapha and vata, and clears urine and stool
• After a meal: quickly removes the ill effects of food and drink

(p. 261, verses 30–32)

What to take it with

लवणेन कफं हन्ति पित्तं हन्ति सशर्करा । घृतेन वातजान् रोगान्सर्वरोगान्गुडान्विता ॥ ३३ ॥

Taken with	Used against
rock salt (saindhava)	kapha
sugar	pitta
ghee	vata disorders
jaggery	all diseases

(p. 261, verse 33)

Seasonal rasayana

For its rejuvenating benefits, the text advises taking haritaki through the six seasons with a different companion each time (pp. 261–262, verse 34):

Season	Take with
Varsha (rains)	rock salt
Sharad (autumn)	sugar
Hemanta (early winter)	dry ginger (shunthi)
Shishira (late winter)	long pepper (pippali)
Vasanta (spring)	honey
Grishma (summer)	jaggery

Who should not take it

अध्वातिखिन्नो बलवर्जितश्च रूक्षः कृशो लङ्घनकर्शितश्च । पित्ताधिको गर्भवती च नारी विमुक्तरक्तस्त्वभयां न खादेत् ॥ ३५ ॥

The text says haritaki should not be taken by someone exhausted from travel, weak, dry, emaciated or weakened by fasting, someone with excess pitta, a pregnant woman, or someone who has just had blood-letting (p. 262, verse 35).

The plant

The Hindi commentary of this edition adds notes on the plant (pp. 262–263):

• Botanical name: Terminalia chebula Retz., family Combretaceae. English: chebulic myrobalan.
• Where it grows: in most parts of India, especially the north, the Himalayan foothills, the Vindhya and Satpura ranges and the Western Ghats. Trees south of the Narmada can reach about 100 feet.
• The tree: medium to large, sheds its leaves in spring; leaves 4–8 inches long, oval and pointed; small whitish-yellow flowers in spikes with an unpleasant smell; the fruit is oval and shows five ridges when dried.
• Bal harad: small, dark, unripe fruits (Hindi Jangi harad, Marathi Balhirda), more astringent and bitter, used as a mild laxative.
• Constituents: the ripe fruit holds about 30% astringent matter (chebulinic acid), 20–40% tannic acid, gallic acid and resin.
• Uses noted: a mild laxative that does no harm, a wound healer applied as a paste on mouth ulcers, old wounds and piles, and a fine powder for cleaning the teeth. It is part of formulations such as Agastya haritaki and Vyaghri haritaki.
• Dose given: powder, 2–4 masha.
• Regional names: Hindi Harad, Harar, Har; Marathi Hirda, Harda; Gujarati Harde; Bengali Haritaki; Punjabi Harad; Telugu Karakkaya; Tamil Kadukkai; Kannada Alale.

Sources

• Bhavamishra, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Haritakyadi varga, verses 1–35: pp. 258–262 (scan and text on SarvaKosh)
• Vidyotini Hindi commentary, notes on the plant: pp. 262–263

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