prajñā
prajñā
Basic Meaning
One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding.
Simplified English Usage
Three types of wisdom (prajñā) are distinguished in Buddhist teachings: wisdom developed through study or learning, wisdom developed through reflection or analysis, and wisdom developed through cultivation or meditation.
Term Variations | |
---|---|
Key Term | prajñā |
Topic Variation | prajñā |
Tibetan | ཤེས་རབ་ ( sherab) |
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration | shes rab ( sherab) |
Devanagari Sanskrit | प्रज्ञा |
Romanized Sanskrit | prajñā |
Chinese | 般若 |
Chinese Pinyin | bān ruò |
Buddha-nature Site Standard English | wisdom |
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term | (supreme) knowledge |
Richard Barron's English Term | sublime knowing/ wisdom |
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term | know-highest |
Dan Martin's English Term | Insight. PrajñA. (I believe the English word insight should be reserved for translating prajñA, and not as is usually done, translating lhag mthong (vipazyana, vipassana). The latter term could just as well be translated 'further vision, ' 'deepening vision' or the like.) In some MahAyAna contexts, it would be best to translate as Transcendent Insight. |
Gyurme Dorje's English Term | discriminative awareness |
Ives Waldo's English Term | prajna, knowledge (sometimes contrasted to ye shes as intellectual knowledge vs (religious) wisdom, but sometimes = shes rab pha rol phyin and contrasted w shes yon giving a similar meaning w shes rab = wisdom) |
Term Information | |
Source Language | Sanskrit |
Basic Meaning | One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. |
Related Terms | jñāna |
Term Type | Noun |
Definitions | |
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism | See page 655: In Sanskrit, typically translated “wisdom,” but having connotations perhaps closer to “gnosis,” “awareness,” and in some contexts “cognition”; the term has the general sense of accurate and precise understanding, but is used most often to refer to an understanding of reality that transcends ordinary comprehension. It is one of the most important terms in Buddhist thought, occurring in a variety of contexts. In Buddhist epistemology, prajñā is listed as one of the five mental concomitants (caitta) that accompany all virtuous (kuśala) states of mind. It is associated with correct, analytical discrimination of the various factors (dharma) enumerated in the Buddhist teachings (dharmapravicaya). In this context, prajñā refers to the capacity to distinguish between the faults and virtues of objects in such a way as to overcome doubt. |
Mahavyutpati | prajñā |
RigpaWiki | rigpa:Wisdom |
Books about this term
Notes
1. Following Paul Harrison, I employ the term 'buddhology' (written in lower case) to refer to theories on and conceptions of the nature of a "buddha" (i.e., Buddhahood), while reserving 'Buddhology' (capitalized) for an alternative designation for Buddhist Studies. See Harrison 1995, p. 24, n. 4.
2. In the present study I differentiate between a buddha (i.e., written in lower case and italicized), a title referring to any unspecified awakened person, and Buddha (i.e., written in roman and capitalized), a title referring to Śākyamuni Buddha or any other particular awakened person. (The same convention has been employed in the case of other titles: for example, bodhisattva versus Bodhisattva.) This differentiation is particularly important for the discussion of buddhology, or conceptions of Buddhahood, since some such conceptions (particularly the earlier ones) are clearly only associated with the person of the historical Buddha, while others, which commonly represent later developments in which a plurality of buddhas is affirmed, concern all awakened persons. To be sure, often there is no clear-cut borderline. In such cases I have employed both forms as alternatives.