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The experts of speech have divided it into four forms: (i) vaikhari, (ii) madhyama, (iii) pashyanti, and (iv) para. The most subtle form of sound, para, the yogis call kundalini. But the phoneticians call this kundalini 'para'. The speech which is diffused in the air after coming out of the mouth is called vaikhari. The sound which appears in the throat in the form of a vibration before speaking is madhyama. Before pronouncing a thought, the idea as to what should be spoken, what is its meaning, the total planning which is done in the mind is pashyanti. You see the thought in your mind and then utter it.
What is the source of pashyanti? Kundalini is the source, para is the source, which has no form, no nature, which does not decay, which is inexhaustible, limitless energy. It is lying dormant in your mooladhara, but the flow that is coming out is unending. It is a perpetual flow, but it can become weak. We grow old, we become sick, we leave this body, but while leaving the body, we cannot leave this. This will go with us. You do not carry this with you, rather, this leads you and establishes you in another body.
Para is transformed into pashyanti, and from pashyanti to madhyama, then from madhyama to vaikhari. Speech has got so much power that this alone can be the cause of your transformation from jeevatma to paramatma. Vedanta has disclosed a great secret that if one has reached the state of competence, one is sure to get liberation just by once hearing the mantra Tat Twam Asi, Brahman from jeeva. The articulated sound has such enormous power. So, the Chandogya Upanishad says, Purushasya vagrasah the essence of man is speech. There is nothing in the world which is not contained in vani, in word. When words can reach the domain of spirit, the experience of paramatma begins.
So, the essence of purusha is in vak (speech) but that is not all. We have got this power of speech, but do not think that you have it all. I shall tell you one small story. There was a potter and he had twelve donkeys to carry the earth which he used for making pots. One of them was healthy, strong and good looking. So, the potter started caring more for this smart donkey. One day while he was digging the earth, he found a piece of bright, beautiful stone with a hole in it. He put a thick thread through the stone and hung it around the neck of this beloved donkey, then went back to his house.
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