tattvas and kalās

The table above lists the five tattvas along with their tattvādhipatis, kāraṇeśvaras and kalās. The list of tattvas and their respective bījas -- from pṛthivī to ākāśa -- is well known. Their tattvādhipatis are the pañca brahmas from sadyojāta to īśāna. Their bīja mantras are the hrasva forms of the bījas used in the ṣaḍaṅga mantras. The kāraṇeśvaras are brahmā, viṣṇu, rudra, īśvara and sadāśiva. The kalās are nivṛtti, pratiṣṭhā, vidyā, śānti and śāntyatīta.

mantra pallavāḥ

Many mantras end with familiar words like namaḥ and svāhā. In some cases, they end with less familiar words such as phaṭ, vaṣaṭ etc. The kārikā above terms these as mantra-pallavāḥ, and explains the meaning behind each word.

vaṣaṭ = vaśya; phaṭ = ucchāṭana; huṁ = dveṣa, māraṇa and stambhana; vauṣaṭ = ākarṣana; namaḥ = saṁpatkara; svāhā = śakti; svadhā = pūṣṭī.

saṁhitā mantra

In the śaiva tradition, the primary mantra is the 'saṁhitā mantra'. This is composed of the 5 pañca-brahma mantras and the 6 ṣaḍaṅga mantras. The five faces of śiva (sadyojāta etc) are visualized in the base, guhya, hṛdaya, vaktra and mūrdhā.