Parapara (परापरा, IAST: Parāparā) is a Sanskrit-origin Hindu girl-name meaning “She who is both transcendent and immanent, beyond and within”. Parā means transcendent or beyond, and aparā means lower, immanent, or proximate; together as a compound they name the Goddess as She who simultaneously encompasses and surpasses all polarities of high and low, far and near.

Meaning, etymology & significance

In Kashmiri Śaivism the term parāparā designates the middle, integrative level of reality that holds transcendence and immanence in dynamic unity; as Parāparā, Lalitā is the living bridge between the infinite and the finite. She is not a god who dwells only in the heights but equally the intimacy that inhabits every heartbeat. This name invites the worshipper to see no contradiction between Her cosmic vastness and Her tender nearness.

Parāparā appears in multiple Tantric texts as a category of consciousness; the name is pronounced pa-raa-pa-RAA, four equal syllables with both long ā vowels sustained.

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Scriptural source

Parapara appears in the Lalitha Sahasranama, among the sacred names of Lalitha.

Astrology — nakshatra, rashi & numerology

By the standard Vedic correspondence between a name’s first syllable and the lunar mansion, Parapara aligns with the Uttara phalguni nakshatra, under the Kanya rashi (Moon sign). Its Chaldean name-number is 6.