Short answers, pulled from the story.
Prajñā translates to wisdom or intelligence and describes supreme understanding or transcendental knowledge. Scholars debate whether insight or non-discriminating knowledge captures its essence better than standard translations.
Fifth-century commentator Buddhaghosa wrote the Visuddhimagga treatise which remains a primary source for meditation-based definitions within Theravada tradition. The text defines knowing modes using an analogy involving coins to distinguish perception from true understanding.
The concept appears across northern Abhidharma schools with translations like shes rab in Tibetan and bōrě in Chinese. A 14th century statue from Candi Jago in Java depicts Mañjuśrī holding a sword symbolizing Prajñā's ability to cut through delusions.
Abhidharma commentaries identify three distinct types of this wisdom within Theravada Buddhism including learned wisdom, reflective wisdom, and spiritual development wisdom. Seven specific ways exist to gain this wisdom according to Abhidharma texts such as asking a wise person and balancing five faculties.
Prajñā serves as the third level of the Threefold Training alongside morality and concentration working together. Wisdom transcends mere mental stability achieved through meditation alone and requires cultivating ethics since guilt-free minds are psychologically fertile for wisdom.