In Shantideva’s presentation, a bodhisattva is a being who has generated bodhicitta, the awakened heart-mind that aspires to complete enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. This is not merely a wish for personal liberation, but a profound resolve that one’s own awakening be entirely oriented toward the liberation of others from suffering and its causes. Bodhicitta thus defines the bodhisattva’s identity: enlightenment is sought precisely so that all beings may be freed from samsara. The bodhisattva is therefore understood as one who stands on the path to Buddhahood with an explicitly universal intention.

Shantideva further distinguishes two aspects of this bodhicitta that characterize the bodhisattva. There is an aspirational dimension, the heartfelt vow to attain perfect enlightenment in order to liberate all beings. Complementing this is an active dimension, the actual engagement in the practices and conduct that lead toward that enlightenment. These practices are classically expressed as the six perfections—generosity, ethical conduct, patience, joyful effort, concentration, and wisdom—which are cultivated over an extended spiritual journey. Through these, the bodhisattva steadily matures in both compassion and insight.

A defining feature of this path, as described by Shantideva, is the willingness to postpone one’s own final liberation until all sentient beings can be freed from cyclic existence. The bodhisattva’s compassion is thus not limited or selective, but directed without exception to all beings. This commitment is sustained by the continuous generation of bodhicitta, by ethical discipline, and by the deepening of wisdom that realizes the true nature of phenomena while maintaining compassionate activity. In this way, a bodhisattva may be seen as one whose entire life, practice, and even awakening are dedicated to the complete welfare and awakening of others.