vīrya ［毘梨耶・精進］ (;  biriya or shōjin): Assiduousness or diligence. The fourth of the six pāramitās, six practices for Mahayana bodhisattvas. Vīrya means untiring zeal and exertion in pursuit of the Buddha way. From very early in the history of Buddhism, vīrya has been regarded as an important ethic, and Buddhist scriptures emphasize it repeatedly as an attitude essential to practitioners of Buddhism.