# Jihva Nirlekhana (Tongue Scraping)

> Jihvā-nirlekhana is tongue scraping, part of the classical Ayurvedic morning routine. Caraka's daily-regimen chapter describes a curved scraper without a sharp edge, made of metal, drawn over the tongue to lift the coating at its root. In practice it follows tooth cleaning, before the first water of the day.

## Key facts

- **Sanskrit name:** Jihvā-Nirlekhana

## What it is

Jihvā-nirlekhana is the scraping of the upper surface of the tongue to lift off the coating that collects on it. It sits in dinacaryā, the daily regimen, and is a practice a person does for themselves.

## Where it comes from in the classical literature

Caraka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 5 (Mātrāśitīya Adhyāya) is the chapter that deals with the right quantity of food and with personal and oral hygiene, including tooth cleaning, tongue scraping and gargling.

Verses 75 to 76 specify the instrument and the reason for the practice: the tongue-scraper should be curved and without a sharp edge, and made of gold, silver, copper, tin or brass. The text says that impurities deposited at the root of the tongue obstruct inhalation and cause halitosis, and that the tongue should therefore be scraped properly.

## What it involves

Seven strokes of the scraper, drawn from the back of the tongue towards the front. It is placed after danta-dhāvana, tooth cleaning, and before taking water.

## What is used

A copper or stainless steel scraper. The classical verse permits gold, silver, copper, tin or brass, and is more specific about the shape of the tool than about which of those metals it is made from. No oil, powder or herbal preparation forms part of this procedure.

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Canonical version of this page: https://nighantu.ageayurveda.com/practice/jihva-nirlekhana/

Published by Age Ayurveda in the Nighantu. Educational reference only, not medical advice.
Incorporates material from the Amidha Ayurveda Herb Database under CC BY 4.0.