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Template:Parami lists the "Perfections" (Pali: pāramī; Skt.: pāramitā), exemplified in the various lives of Gautama Buddha (see, for instance, the Pāli Canon, the Buddhavamsa and Jataka tales), which traditionally include ten practices in Theravada Buddhism and six practices in Mahayana Buddhism.
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The lefthand column's list is based on traditional Theravada sources and thus is in the traditional Theravada canonical language of Pali. The righthand column's list is related to Mahayana practices and thus is in one of its traditional languages, Sanskrit. Thus, two differently spelt words can represent the same practice.
For instance, both paññā (Pali) and prajñā (Sanskrit) represent the Buddhist concept that has been translated into English as "wisdom," "understanding" or "discernment."
It is worth keeping in mind though that, while words such as paññā and prajñā are clearly etymologically related, they may at times have significantly different connotations in different Buddhist traditions. Similarly, even the same word can have different implications in different traditions.
The five perfections that are common to both the lists (dāna, sīla, paññā/prajñā, viriya/vīrya and khanti/kṣānti) are each assigned a different color (Red, Orange, Yellow, LightGreen and Violet, respectively). Each colored perfection is given the same individual color in both lists. The remaining unrepeated perfections are given a neutral color (Whitesmoke). This color scheme is meant to provide the reader with a quick, intuitive basis for discerning the similarities and dissimilarities between these two lists, both in terms of the number of perfections, the perfections themselves and the sequence of perfections. Additionally, the dissimilar perfections can be analyzed to assess to what degree, if any, they overlap with other perfections. (For instance, is the traditional Mahayana perfection of dhyāna similar to the traditional Theravada perfection of upekkhā and, if so, might one have evolved from the other?)
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