Re: an āmalakī in the palm of the hand

[Stephen Hodge]

This example of the "amla in the hand" is also mentioned in the early core
portion of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, which I date to mid-late c1st
CE:

無有所取。其名取者。猶如手執阿摩勒果。眞解脱者則不如是。

[Faxian/Buddhabhadra]

又解脱者名不可取。如阿摩勒果人可取持。解脱不爾不可取持。不可取持即眞解脱。眞解脱者即是如來。

[Dharmakṣema]

<nyon mongs pa med pa> <nyon mongs pa med pa> zhes bya ba ni ji ltar mi'i
'chang par skyu ru ra gzung du yod pa bzhin du thar pa ni de dang 'dra bar
ci yang gzung du med do ||

I have found that many of the examples in this sutra have Agamic antecedants
and this may also be the case here ~ in one of the other collections if not
in the Pali Nikāyas.

Best wishes,

Stephen Hodge