नवसादर
Ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. A white crystalline salt, readily soluble, which sublimes on heating without melting - the property every classical description turns on.
Parthiva · mineral origin · Sadharana Rasa
SHODHANA — NO MINERAL DRAVYA IS USED RAW
Dissolved in water, filtered and recrystallised, or subjected to urdhvapatana (sublimation), which both purifies it and is the operation the texts use it for.
TRADITIONAL VIEW, WITH SAFETY LIMITS
Hindi name: Navsadar
What the texts say Navasadara does
What the evidence says. Traditional use is documented in the Rasashastra texts. Modern evidence about this dravya is largely toxicological rather than therapeutic.
Side effects and limits
Avoid or ask first: Not used where there is liver failure, because ammonium cannot be handled.; Not used where there is kidney failure or an established metabolic acidosis.; Not used in the raw, unprocessed state.
A traditional classification, not a recommendation. The full safety record is below.
AS THE CLASSICAL TEXTS AND THE API PRESCRIBE
| Shuddha churna | 125–250 mg |
| Anupana | Ushnodaka |
| Kala | Adhobhakta |
As the processed salt within a yoga. Its principal classical use is as a laboratory reagent, not as a medicine taken alone.
Reported from Sharangadhara Samhita and the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Laisha states what the texts prescribe; it does not recommend. No quantity here is adjusted for a particular person — not for agni, koshtha, bala, age, pregnancy, kidney or liver function, or anything already being taken.
| Rasa | LavanaKatu |
| Guna | LaghuTikshnaSukshma |
| Virya | Ushna |
| Vipaka | Katu |
| Prabhava | Its real importance is pharmaceutical rather than clinical: Navasadara is the reagent of the Rasashastra laboratory, used in satvapatana to draw the metal out of an ore and in the preparation of Parada. |
| Doshakarma | Kaphavatahara. Increases pitta. |
Lavana and katu with ushna virya and katu vipaka.
These are the actions the classical texts record. They are statements about what the tradition holds, and this library does not restate them as findings about a human body.
| Upayukta anga | Shuddha navasadara |
| Why it matters | The processed article, never the raw mineral. A lot received raw is a different material from the one the formula names. |
Chulika lavana, the salt of the furnace, records where it was collected: the sublimate from a fire.
| English | Sal ammoniac |
| Hindi | Navsadar |
| Kannada | Navasadara |
| Tamil | Navsadar |
| Telugu | Navsadar |
| Malayalam | Navsadar |
| Marathi | Navsadar |
| Gujarati | Navsadar |
| Bengali | Navsadar |
| Odia | Navsadar |
| Urdu | Navsadar |
| Satvapatana | The reagent by which a metal is drawn from its ore. |
| Classical Parada samskara | Used in the processing of mercury. |
Industrial ammonium chloride sold for soldering flux, dry cells and fertiliser is the same salt at a different purity and is what most of the market supplies. The industrial grades are not prepared for internal use and may carry heavy metals from the manufacturing route.
Ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. A white crystalline salt, readily soluble, which sublimes on heating without melting - the property every classical description turns on.
A WAY TO REMEMBER IT
Navasadara comes through Persian and Arabic nushadir from an older name for the salt collected around volcanic vents and burning coal seams. Sal ammoniac is the salt of Ammon, for the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya near which it was gathered.
Navasadara is among the sadharana rasa of the Rasa Ratna Samuccaya and is the reagent the texts prescribe for satvapatana. That is what the tradition records.
Constituents. Ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. A white crystalline salt, readily soluble, which sublimes on heating without melting - the property every classical description turns on.
| Status | Traditional use is documented in the Rasashastra texts. Modern evidence about this dravya is largely toxicological rather than therapeutic. |
| Suggested | The dravya has a defined place and a defined shodhana in the classical Rasashastra literature, and the processed form has a pharmacopoeial standing in India. That is a standard for the material, not evidence of an effect in a body. |
| Not established | There is not enough good clinical evidence to establish an effect on any named health condition. Long traditional use is not a substitute for that evidence, and this library does not present it as one. |
| The honest gap | Published analyses of preparations containing this dravya rarely record whether shodhana was performed or how, so a result cannot be attributed to the processed article rather than the raw mineral. |
Ammonium chloride is used in modern medicine as an acidifying agent and an expectorant, so the toxicology is well described rather than unknown - which makes it one of the few rasa dravya where a genuine safety picture exists. In quantity it causes metabolic acidosis, and it is dangerous in liver or kidney failure, where the body cannot handle the ammonium load. Anyone pregnant, on medication or managing a diagnosed condition should speak to a doctor or a qualified practitioner first.
| Side effects | Nausea and gastric irritation Thirst |
| Contraindications | Not used where there is liver failure, because ammonium cannot be handled. Not used where there is kidney failure or an established metabolic acidosis. Not used in the raw, unprocessed state. |
| Interactions | Ammonium chloride acidifies the urine, which speeds the excretion of basic drugs such as amphetamines and quinidine and slows that of acidic ones. This is documented for ammonium chloride as a medicine and applies to any preparation carrying it. Combined with spironolactone it raises the risk of systemic acidosis. |
| Pregnancy and breastfeeding | Safety in pregnancy has not been established. Ammonium chloride crosses the placenta and acidifies maternal blood, and it is not used in pregnancy without a specific reason. |