prajna

In Buddhism, prajna refers to transcendental wisdom or supreme knowledge gained through intuitive insight. It is a key concept within Mahayana Buddhism, particularly in the Prajnaparamita literature, which emphasizes the realization of the illusory nature of all phenomena.12

Prajna is considered the primary avenue to nirvana. The concept of prajnapti is related, referring to the denotation of a thing by a word. Buddhist philosophers argue that such verbal designations are fictitious constructions unrelated to ultimate reality, as the highest reality is beyond words and thought. This understanding highlights that empirical knowledge, being based on these designations, is not ultimately true.23