Myrobalan, Yellow

Citrine Myrobalan
Halela Zard (Unani)
A ru gser mdog ཨ་རུ་གསེར་མདོག་ (Tibetan)

Chebulic, Emblic, Belleric, Citrine (Yellow) and Indian (Black) Myrobalan
A Complete History of Drugs, Pomet, London, 1748

Yellow Myrobalan
Icones Plantarum Medcio-oeconomico, Vietz, 1804

1. Yellow (Citrine) Myrobalan
2. Black (Indian, Nigrum) Myroabalan
3. Chebulic Myrobalan
4. Emblic Myrobalan
5. Belleric Myrobalan
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578

Left to Right: Yellow Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Belleric Myrobalan, Emblic Myrobalan (stoned), Black Myrobalan (Adam, 2017)

Botanical name:

Terminalis chebula (large yellow variety)

Parts used:

Fruits, stoned
Yellow Myrobalan should be reddish-yellow, long, the size of an olive, heavy, and hard to break

Temperature & Taste:

Mildly Warm, dry. all tastes except Salty

Classifications:

3B. FEBRIFUGE & ANTIPYRETIC
E. Laxative, Purgatives and Cathartics
Preparers and Purgers of Bile

Uses:

1. Clears Heat and Bile:
-corrects and purges Bile Humor; regulates Bile
-sedative in Bile conditions

2. Benefits Qi:
-Tonic to the Heart, Stomach and Brain
-like Chebula, regarded as a strengthening, regulating tonic

3. Externally:
-Inflammations and tearing of the Eyes

Dose:

Decoction: 3–9 grams
Powder: 1–3 grams

Substitute:

Chebulic or Emblic Myrobalan

Correctives:

1. Honey
2. Almond oil; Ghee
3. See Chebulic Myrobalan for general correctives for the Myrobalans.

Comment:

1. Yellow Myrobalan is generally used similarly to Chebulic Myrobalan, but has greater affinity for Heat and Bile disease whereas Chebulc has a greater affinity for Wind diseases.
2. The Myrobalans are some of the important medicines in all Traditional Medicine systems except TCM where only Chebulic Myrobalan is used, and that, sparingly. The special thing about these fruits is that they are regulators, and when used together, they can balance and regulate the Humors. Each has a regulatory effect on one of the Humors: Chebula for Wind; Emblic and Yellow Myrobalan for Blood and Bile; Belleric for Phlegm; Black Myrobalan for Melancholy.
3. The three main Myrobalans: Chebulic, Emblic and Belleric, when used together form Triphala, the Three Fruits. These are both a household remedy and the basis for some of the most complex formulas of Traditional Medicine intended to treat some of the most obstinate diseases.
4. There are a great many Myrobalan based formulas used in Traditional Medicine. These are called Triphala in Ayurveda, Itrafal in Unani and Tryphera in the West.
5. Taken in Infusion, they only purge; in Decoction, they purge and bind (purging more); the Powder purges and binds (binds more).

Preparation:

If scorched a little, they bind only.

Main Combinations:

1. Purge Bile:
i. Yellow Myrobalan, Rhubarb, Cinnamon (as in Infusion Purging Bile)
ii. Yellow Myrobalan, Rhubarb, Aloe, Cinnamon, Camphor, Rose, Sandalwood (Powder to Purge Bile of Mesue)
2. Purge Bile and Phlegm:
i. Yellow Myrobalan, Rhubarb, Agaric, Chebulic Myrobalan, Aloe
ii. Yellow Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Rhubarb, Cassia Pulp, Aloes washed (as in Infusion to Purge Bile and Phlegm of Mesue)
3. Purge Phlegm and Black Bile, Yellow Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Emblic Myrobalan, Belleric Myrobalan, Black Myrobalan, Turpeth, Aniseed, Dodder
4. Purge Bile and Melancholy, Yellow Myrobalan, Black Myrobalan, Rhubarb, Rock Salt (as in Electuary for Bile and Melancholy of Mesue)
5. To Purge Mixed Humors, Yellow Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Black Myrobalan, Agaric, Rhubarb, Aloes washed
6. Headache:
i. from Bile and Phlegm, Yellow Myrobalan, Aloe, Mastic, Rose, Saffron
ii. Migraine, Yellow Myrobalan, Chebulic Myrobalan, Black Myrobalan, Saffron, Mastic, Aloe (as in Pills for Migraine of Galen)
7. Dysentery:
i. Yellow Myrobalan, torrefied Rhubarb
ii. Yellow Myrobalan (1 oz.), warm water (1 pint). Infuse and give a cupful as a dose.
iii. Yellow Myrobalan, Red Rose, Plantain, Licorice, Raisins, Rhubarb, Tamarind (Pemell)
8. Pruritis, Scabies:
i. Yellow Myrobalan, Senna, Fumitory, Wormwood juice (as in Electuary for Scabies and Pruritis of Rhasis)
ii. Yellow Myrobalan, Violet, Dodder, Wormwood, Fumitory
9. Inflammations and tearing of the Eyes, Yellow Myrobalan with Fennel juice or Rose water as a Collyrium

Major Formulas:

Infusion Purging Bile (Mesue)
Infusion to Purge Bile and Phlegm (Mesue)
Infusion for Mixed Humors Compound (Mesue)
Decoction of Myrobalan (Mesue)
Decoction of Fumitory of Mesue
Syrup of Dodder of Thyme (Mesue)
Syrup of Fumitory Lesser (Mesue)
Syrup of Fumitory Greater
Powder to Purge Bile (Mesue)
Powder of Chebula and Rhubarb (Philon)
Powder for Dysentery (Nicholas)
Powder for Elephantiasis (Isaac)
Powder to Strengthen the Memory (3)
Electuary for Bile and Melancholy (Mesue)
Electuary of Dodder and Fumitory (Mesue)
Arabian Confect Purging Melancholy (Confectio Hamech) (Mesue)
Letificans Conciliatoris
Electuary of Life (Arnold de Villa Nova)
Electuarium Alcharif (Mesue)
Electuary of Micleta (Nicholas)
Electuary for Stomach Debility (Unani)
Electuary for Scabies and Pruritis (Rhasis)
Indian Electuary (Unani)
Triphala Electuary Lesser (Unani)
Triphala Electuary of Raisins (Unani)
Triphala Electuary of Fennel Seeds (Unani)
Triphala Electuary to Purge Phlegm and Black Bile
Triphera Persica (Mesue)
Triphera of the Saracens (Triphera Saracenica Magna)
The Count’s Night Pills (Unani)
Magisterial Imperial Pills
Pills of Agrimony Lesser (Mesue)
Pills of Agrimony Greater (Mesue)
Pills of Colchicum Lesser (Mesue) (Habb-E-Suranjun)
Pills of Colchicum Greater (Habb-E-Suranjun Kalan)
Pills of Fumitory (Avicenna)
Pills of Opopanax (De morbus internis curandis)
Pills of Rhubarb (Mesue)
Pills of Rhubarb (Greater) (Pil. de Raved Sceni) (Mesue)
Pills of Rhubarb and Agaric (Mesue)
Pills for Mixed Humors (Mesue)
Pills of Fumitory and Senna (Unani)
Pills for Migraine (Galen)
Pills to Aggregate Lesser (Mesue)
Pills to Clarify (Pilulae Lucis Majores) (Mesue)
Arabian Pills (Nicholas)
‘Pills without which I would not be’ (Nicholas)
Pills for Headache from Bile and Phlegm
Greater Polycrest Pills

Bile Conqueror (Mkhris las rnam rgyal) (Tibetan)
Caraway 8 (Go snyod brgyad pa) (Tibetan)
Golden 5 (Gser mdog 5) (Tibetan)
Golden 11 (Gser mdog 11) (Tibetan)

Cautions:

As for Chebulic Myrobalan
1. Mesue said the only deleterious effect of the Myrobalans was their potential to create obstruction. This is why they are regularly mixed with Ghee or Oil and Honey in Ayurveda and Unani. They are also used with medicines to prevent likelihood of obstruction such as Stoechas, Indian Spikenard, Ginger or Pepper etc.
2. Pemell said they should not be used in Obstruction or Fever. They are sometimes used in formulas in these cases with appropriate medicines.