THE TONGUE’S TESTIMONY: A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF JIHVA PARIKSHA IN AYURVEDA

Abstract

Jihva Pariksha (tongue examination) is one of the eight components of Ashtavidha Pariksha described by Acharya Yogaratnakara, and occupies a unique place among Ayurvedic diagnostic methods because the tongue is the only internal organ that can be observed directly, without any invasive procedure. Classical Ayurvedic literature - the Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Sangraha, Ashtanga Hridaya and Yogaratnakara - describes the tongue as a mirror of Dosha, Dhatu, Agni and Ama status, and assigns it prognostic value through the concept of Jihva Arishta Lakshana. However, this knowledge remains scattered across Roga Pariksha, Dosha Lakshana, Agni-Ama Vijnana, Dhatu Pradoshaja Vikara, Mukharoga and Arishta Vijnana sections of different Samhitas, and no single, organised compilation is readily available. The present review consolidates the classical descriptions of Jihva Pariksha - its embryological origin, anatomical seat, physiological functions, characteristics of the healthy (Prakrita) tongue, Dosha-wise and disease-specific tongue signs, diseases of the tongue itself (Jihva Roga), and fatal prognostic signs (Arishta Lakshana) - and correlates them with the anatomy, physiology and clinical semiology of the tongue in contemporary medicine, as well as with the tongue-diagnosis tradition of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The review highlights that tongue examination is a simple, safe, repeatable, and economical bedside tool with considerable but still under-validated diagnostic and prognostic potential, and identifies the lack of standardisation and of an organised digital image database as the principal research gap to be addressed by future clinical and technology-assisted studies.