Pāramitā

Pāramitā (Sanskrit, Pali: पारमिता) or pāramī (Pāli: पारमी) is a Buddhist term commonly rendered as "perfection." In Buddhist commentaries, it refers to a noble quality of character typically linked with enlightened beings. Both pāramī and pāramitā appear in Pali, but Pali writings favor pāramī, whereas Mahāyāna texts usually employ the Sanskrit form pāramitā.

The word's etymology is explained by Donald S. Lopez Jr. One derivation traces it to *parama*, meaning "highest," "most distant," or "chief," "primary," "most excellent," so the noun can mean "excellence" or "perfection." This reading is supported by the *Madhyāntavibhāga* (V.4), which links twelve excellences (*parama*) with the ten perfections (*pāramitā*). Another, more inventive etymology splits *pāramitā* into *pāra* ("beyond," "the further shore or boundary") and *mita* ("that which has arrived") or *ita* ("that which goes"), yielding "that which has gone beyond" or "transcendent." This interpretation is reflected in the Tibetan translation *pha rol tu phyin pa* ("gone to the other side").

In Theravāda Buddhism, teachings on the pāramīs appear in late canonical books and post-canonical commentaries. The commentator Dhammapala describes them as noble qualities typically associated with bodhisattvas. American scholar-monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu calls them perfections of character needed to attain enlightenment as one of three types of enlightened beings: a *samma sambuddha*, a *pacceka-buddha*, or an *arahant*.

Within the Pāli Canon, the *Buddhavamsa* of the *Khuddaka Nikāya* lists ten perfections (*dasa pāramiyo*): generosity (*dāna pāramī*), virtue (*sīla pāramī*), renunciation (*nekkhamma pāramī*), wisdom (*paññā pāramī*), energy (*viriya pāramī*), patience (*khanti pāramī*), truthfulness (*sacca pāramī*), determination (*adhiṭṭhāna pāramī*), loving-kindness (*mettā pāramī*), and equanimity (*upekkhā pāramī*). Two of these—*mettā* and *upekkhā*—are also *brahmavihāras*, and two—*vīrya* and *upekkhā*—are factors of awakening.

Historically, Theravāda teachings on the pāramīs are found in canonical books (the *Jātaka* tales, *Apadāna*, *Buddhavamsa*, *Cariyāpiṭaka*) and post-canonical commentaries written to supplement the Pāli Canon, so they may not be an original part of Theravāda teachings. The oldest parts of the *Sutta Piṭaka* (such as the *Majjhima Nikāya*, *Digha Nikāya*, *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, and *Aṅguttara Nikāya*) do not mention the pāramīs as a category, though each quality appears individually. Some scholars have viewed the pāramīs as a semi-Mahāyāna teaching added later to appeal to lay interests and popularize the religion, but this relies on an early assumption that Mahāyāna originated from devotion and lay appeal. More recent study of early Mahāyāna literature, which is highly ascetic and promotes the ideal of the forest monk, suggests that the practice of pāramitās in Mahāyāna may have been close to the ascetic *śramaṇa* tradition. The cultivation of pāramīs is also closely tied to Buddhist kingship and to the Burmese and Thai concepts of *hpone* and *barami*, respectively.

Bhikkhu Bodhi holds that in the earliest Buddhist texts (the first four *nikāyas*), those seeking the end of suffering (*nibbana*) followed the noble eightfold path. Over time, a backstory for the Buddha’s multi-life development emerged, and the ten perfections were identified as part of the bodhisattva’s path. Later, the pāramīs came to be seen as significant for aspirants to both Buddhahood and arahantship. Bhikkhu Bodhi summarizes that in established Theravāda tradition, the pāramīs are not a discipline exclusive to candidates for Buddhahood but are practices all aspirants to enlightenment—whether Buddhas, *paccekabuddhas*, or disciples—must fulfill. What distinguishes the supreme bodhisattva from others is the degree and duration of cultivation, but the qualities themselves are universal requisites for liberation.

In the Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣika school, the main commentary *Mahāvibhāṣā* teaches a bodhisattva path based on four pāramitās: generosity (*dāna*), discipline (*śīla*), energy (*vīrya*), and wisdom (*prajñā*). It also mentions a system of six pāramitās, arguing that patience (*kṣānti*) is a kind of discipline and that meditation (*dhyāna*) is a mode of wisdom.

Mahāyāna texts refer to the pāramitās as "bases of training" for self-cultivation on the bodhisattva path to Buddhahood. The *Prajñapāramitā sūtras* and many other Mahāyāna texts list six perfections: giving, ethical discipline, patience, vigorous effort, meditation, and wisdom (*prajñā*). This list of six is also mentioned by the Theravāda commentator Dhammapala, who describes it as a categorization of the same ten perfections. According to Dhammapala, truthfulness (*sacca*) falls under both *śīla* and *prajñā*, loving-kindness (*mettā*) and equanimity (*upekkhā*) fall under *dhyāna*, and determination (*adhiṭṭhāna*) falls under all six. Bhikkhu Bodhi notes the correlation between the two systems.