prajnā-pāramitā ［般若波羅蜜］ (;  hannya-haramitsu): The perfection of wisdom. One of the six pāramitās. Prajnā means wisdom that penetrates the essential nature of all things. Pāramitā means perfection. Thus prajnā-pāramitā is rendered as perfection of wisdom. Pāramitā also means having reached the opposite shore, i.e., having arrived at the shore of enlightenment, the opposite of the shore of delusion. Among the six pāramitās, or six practices for Mahayana bodhisattvas, prajnā-pāramitā is defined as the mother and father of all Buddhas. This pāramitā is therefore regarded as the most important of the six, the other five serving as means to achieve it.