Śivasaṃhitā 5.229

The mantric mapping of the body begins from below: the bīja aim in the mūlādhāra locates the origin of speech and mantra at the earth center. Before any word is pronounced, its seed exists in the subtle body’s densest center. This description follows the cosmology of the four levels of speech: parā (supreme), paśyantī (visionary), madhyamā (middle) and vaikharī (articulated).

Catur-dala = four-petalled (catur = four, dala = petal/leaf), samanvita = endowed with, vidyut = lightning, citi = fire flame, bīja = mantric seed. The aim is Sarasvatī’s bīja, the goddess of speech and wisdom, brilliant as lightning that suddenly illuminates darkness.

The correspondence between the mūlādhāra’s four petals and the four levels of speech (parā-paśyantī-madhyamā-vaikharī) is a specific doctrine of the kula tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. The parāvāk (supreme speech) in the mūlādhāra is the original vibration from which all language—and all creation—emerges. The mantra aim accesses that deepest level of language.