2. Why are they called Pāramī?

It may be asked why the ten virtues such as dāna, sīla, etc., are called pāramī.

The answer is: The Pali word pāramī is the combination of ‘parama’ and ‘ī’. Parama means ‘supreme’ and is used here as a designation of Bodhisattas, because they are the highest of beings endowed with the extraordinary virtues of dāna, sīla, etc.

Or, because they fulfil and protect such special virtues as dāna, sīla, etc.; because they behave as though they bind on and attract others beings to them by means of these virtues of dāna, sīla, etc.; because they purify others by removing their defilements in a most ardent manner; because they particularly proceed to supreme nibbāna; because they know their next existence as they comprehend the present life; because they practise virtues such as sīla, etc., in an incomparable manner as if these virtues were ingrained in their mental continuum; because they dispel and destroy all alien hordes of defilements which threaten them, Bodhisattas are called ‘parama’.

A Bodhisatta is incomparably endowed with special virtues such as dāna, sīla, etc. This accounts for the emergence of the utterance and the knowledge “This person is a Bodhisatta; he is a Parama, a Supreme Being.” Thus the special virtues of dāna, sīla, etc., come to be known as ‘pāramī.’

Again, only Bodhisattas are able to perform deeds of merit such as dāna, sīla, etc., in an unparalleled manner. Hence these deeds of merit are called pāramī, meaning the duties of Bodhisattas (paramānaṃ kammaṃ pāramī), or the property of Bodhisattas (paramānaṃ ayaṃ pāramī).