सोपानम् ४: स्थान-विभागः & शिक्षा-सूत्राणि
Sopāna 4: The 8 Articulatory Sthānas & Classical Formulas (अकुहविसर्जनीयानां कण्ठः, इचुयशानां तालु, etc.)
१. दर्शनम् — The Biological Coordinates of Speech
"अष्टौ स्थानानि वर्णानामुरः कण्ठः शिरस्तथा।
जिह्वामूलं च दन्ताश्च नासिकौष्ठौ च तालु च॥"
aṣṭau sthānāni varṇānām uraḥ kaṇṭhaḥ śiras tathā |
jihvāmūlaṃ ca dantāś ca nāsikoṣṭhau ca tālu ca ||
— पाणिनिः, पाणिनीय-शिक्षा (श्लोकः १३)
"There are eight primary places of articulation for sounds: Chest, Throat, Head/Dome, Tongue-root, Teeth, Nose, Lips, and Palate."
In Pāṇinian phonetics, letters are not arbitrary symbols. Every single letter belongs to an exact anatomical Sthāna (स्थानम्) inside the human vocal tract.
To make memorization instantaneous and rigorous, the ancient masters compressed the entire sound universe into mnemonic formulas like "अकुहविसर्जनीयानां कण्ठः" (a + ku + h + ḥ = Throat).