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.
Self-care. This is a practice a person can do for themselves. Read the cautions before starting.
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.
Cautions
- Caraka's own specification is a curved scraper without a sharp edge. An improvised or sharp-edged tool can cut the tongue.
- The recorded method is seven light strokes from back to front. Stop if you gag or feel pain; forcing the scraper further back is not part of the procedure.
- No adverse events and no contraindications are recorded for this practice in the source used here. That means it has not been assessed for them, not that none exist.
- Coating that will not lift, white patches that will not scrape off, soreness, or persistent bad breath are reasons to see a dentist or doctor rather than to scrape harder.
- A scraper is personal. Do not share one.
Classical source
Caraka Saṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 5 (Mātrāśitīya Adhyāya), vv. 75-76 — checked against a published translation
The record cites "Caraka Sūtra 5". Confirmed against the Charak Samhita Online translation of Mātrāśitīya Adhyāya: the chapter covers oral hygiene within dinacaryā, and verses 75-76 describe the tongue-scraper and tongue scraping directly. Verse numbers added to the citation.
Common questions
- How many strokes should I use, and in which direction?
- The recorded method is seven strokes, each drawn from the back of the tongue forward. Classical instruction is about the tool being curved and blunt rather than about pressure, so keep the strokes light.
- Do I scrape before or after brushing my teeth?
- After. The sequence in the record is danta-dhāvana (tooth cleaning) first, then tongue scraping, then water. Caraka's Sūtrasthāna 5 treats tooth cleaning and tongue scraping as separate items of the daily regimen.
- Does the scraper have to be copper?
- Not according to the text. Caraka lists gold, silver, copper, tin and brass, and copper or stainless steel are what the record names in current use. The text is specific about shape, a curve with no sharp edge, rather than about the metal.
Reviewed by Dr. Awadesh Pratap Singh, BAMS, on 18 September 2026. What that review covered.
Available from Age Ayurveda
This encyclopedia is published by Age Ayurveda. The products below are ours, and are listed here because they contain or use what this page describes.
Nava Tongue CleanerA stainless steel tongue cleaner for the daily practice of jihwa nirlekhana.
Consult a qualified vaidya before acting on anything here. Ayurvedic practice is prescribed to a person, not to a condition: the same procedure is given, modified or withheld depending on your constitution, your agni, the season and what else you are already doing. A page cannot know any of that.