What are the five types of lavana?

December 10, 2025 •

4 min read

According to ancient Ayurvedic texts like the Charaka and Sushruta Samhitas, salt is a vital taste (rasa) essential for life and digestion. This tradition distinguishes what are the five types of lavana, or salt, each with its own unique properties and therapeutic effects on the body's doshas.

Quick Summary

Ayurveda identifies five types of lavana, or salt: Saindhava (rock salt), Samudra (sea salt), Sauvarchala (black salt), Vida (another black salt variety), and Romaka (lake salt). Each possesses distinct medicinal qualities, including effects on digestion, dosha balance, and overall health.

Key Points

Saindhava Lavana: Known as rock salt, it is the best lavana in Ayurveda, balancing all three doshas and possessing cooling properties beneficial for digestion, eyes, and heart.
Samudra Lavana: This sea salt is heavier and unctuous, making it mildly warm and effective as a laxative and appetite stimulant, though it can increase Kapha.
Sauvarchala Lavana: Black salt with a sulfurous aroma, this lavana is light, hot, and penetrates deep into tissues, making it a powerful digestive stimulant and anti-flatulent.
Vida Lavana: An artificially prepared, sharp, and hot black salt, its fast-acting, penetrative nature helps clear channels, relieve abdominal pain, and balance Vata.
Romaka Lavana: Earthen salt from saline lakes, it is very hot in potency, light, and sharp, used to improve digestion, treat constipation, and act as a diuretic.
Panchalavana: The collective term for the five salts, these are used individually or in combination in Ayurvedic preparations for their distinct therapeutic effects.
Dosha Impact: While all lavanas stimulate digestion, their specific qualities can either balance or aggravate different doshas, with Saindhava being the most universally balancing.

In Ayurvedic practice, the classification and properties of lavana (salt) are crucial for dietary and therapeutic purposes. While modern science views salt largely as a single compound, sodium chloride, Ayurveda details five distinct types known as Panchalavana. These are differentiated by their source, processing, chemical composition, and specific effects on the body's constitution, or doshas. The most esteemed among them is Saindhava lavana for its balanced properties. Understanding these distinctions allows for a more tailored and holistic approach to using salt for health.

Saindhava Lavana: The Best of All Salts

Saindhava lavana, or rock salt, is widely regarded in Ayurveda as the superior salt for consumption. It is a naturally occurring mineral form of sodium chloride, often found as large crystals in regions like the Himalayan mountains. Unlike other salts, it is considered to have a cooling effect, or sheeta virya, which makes it suitable for all three doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha). Its key properties include being light, unctuous, and sharp, with therapeutic uses for digestion, appetite, eye health, and the heart. It is particularly known for calming Vata.

Samudra Lavana: The Common Sea Salt

Samudra lavana, or sea salt, is obtained from the evaporation of seawater. Ayurveda notes its heavier, more unctuous nature compared to rock salt. Its properties can increase Kapha dosha if consumed in excess. It is described as slightly heavy and unctuous, with therapeutic uses as a laxative and aid for digesting vegetables.

Sauvarchala Lavana: Aromatic Black Salt

Also known as Kala Namak, Sauvarchala lavana is a black salt recognized for its distinctive sulfuric odor and flavor. It can be naturally occurring or artificially prepared. This lavana is light, subtle, and has a heating potency. It is an anti-flatulent, relieves constipation, and is used for abdominal bloating and indigestion.

Vida Lavana: The Penetrative Salt

Vida lavana is another type of black salt, prepared artificially. Its defining feature is its penetrative, or vyavayi, quality. This lavana is sharp, hot, and light. It is known for pacifying Vata dosha, aiding in the downward movement of gas, and addressing indigestion and abdominal pain.

Romaka Lavana: The Earthen Salt

Romaka lavana, also called Sambhar salt or earthen salt, is naturally harvested from saline lakes. It is sometimes equated with Audbhida lavana. Its properties include being very hot in potency, sharp, and light. It improves digestion strength, is laxative, and is useful for constipation and low appetite.

Comparison of the Five Lavanas


Feature	Saindhava Lavana (Rock Salt)	Samudra Lavana (Sea Salt)	Sauvarchala Lavana (Black Salt)	Vida Lavana (Penetrative Black Salt)	Romaka Lavana (Earthen Salt)
Origin	Naturally occurring mineral (halite).	Evaporated from seawater.	Processed from natural salts with herbs, can be natural or artificial.	Artificially prepared through incineration.	From saline lakes or earth.
Key Effect	Balances all three doshas, especially Vata.	Increases Kapha due to heavier nature.	Calms Vata and Kapha.	Pacifies Vata, aids gas relief (vatanulomana).	Balances Vata, increases Pitta.
Taste/Smell	Pure, salty taste.	Saturated salty taste.	Distinctive sulfuric flavor and smell.	Sharp, alkaline taste; unique odor.	Sharp, alkaline taste.
*Potency (Virya)*	Cooling (sheeta).	Mildly warm (ushna).	Hot (ushna).	Hot (ushna).	Very hot (ati ushna).
Benefits	Digestion, heart health, eye health.	Stimulates appetite, laxative.	Anti-flatulent, relieves constipation.	Clears channels, relieves abdominal pain.	Improves digestion, laxative, diuretic.
Best for...	General internal use, balancing Vata.	Stimulating appetite.	Indigestion, bloating, constipation.	Expelling gas, treating colic.	Low digestion, constipation.

The Ayurvedic Perspective on Lavana

In Ayurveda, lavana is a therapeutic substance with the power to both heal and harm, depending on its type and usage. While it stimulates digestion and enhances taste, it can also aggravate Pitta dosha. Saindhava lavana is considered the most balanced due to its cooling effect. The principles of Panchalavana highlight the importance of a substance's origin and processing, as seen in the distinct properties of Sauvarchala and Samudra. Ayurvedic practitioners select the right salt for specific health conditions, such as using warming salts like Vida or Sauvarchala for Vata-related constipation, or the cooling Saindhava for a Pitta imbalance.

Conclusion

Understanding what are the five types of lavana provides a deeper appreciation for Ayurveda's sophisticated approach to diet and medicine. Beyond the simple, modern table salt, these five salts—Saindhava, Samudra, Sauvarchala, Vida, and Romaka—offer a spectrum of therapeutic benefits rooted in their unique properties and origins. By choosing the right type of lavana for individual needs, one can harness its full potential for improving digestion, balancing doshas, and promoting overall wellness, all while honoring a tradition that has valued this crucial mineral for millennia.

Further reading on the therapeutic uses of Ayurvedic substances can be found at the Wisdom Library.

Frequently Asked Questions

In Ayurveda, lavana refers to the salty taste, or rasa, which is considered one of the six fundamental tastes. It is associated with the water and fire elements and is essential for digestion, fluid balance, and metabolism.

Saindhava Lavana (rock salt) is considered the best for regular cooking in Ayurveda. Its cooling properties balance all three doshas, making it the most universally beneficial and least likely to cause imbalances compared to other, more heating salts.

While both are black salts, Sauvarchala is known for its distinct sulfuric odor and anti-flatulent properties, often used for digestion issues. Vida lavana, which is artificially prepared, has a sharper, more penetrative effect and is used to clear channels and expel gas.

Yes, excessive consumption of any lavana can increase the fiery Pitta dosha and potentially lead to issues like high blood pressure, skin irritation, water retention, and premature aging. It is advised to use salt in moderation.

Some Ayurvedic texts consider Romaka lavana (lake salt) and Audbhida lavana (alkaline earth salt) to be synonymous due to their similar properties. Both are known to be light, sharp, and very hot in potency, and are used for similar digestive and laxative purposes.

Panchalavana is the collective term for the group of five salts—Saindhava, Samudra, Sauvarchala, Vida, and Romaka—specifically identified and used in Ayurveda for therapeutic and dietary applications.

Ayurvedic texts describe the properties of each lavana based on its panchabhautika sangathana (composition of five proto-elements). For example, the combination of water and fire elements is responsible for salt’s warming and moisturizing qualities, while the inclusion of specific minerals and processing methods further refines its therapeutic effects.