In Śāntideva’s presentation, the bodhisattva’s ultimate aim is the attainment of complete and perfect enlightenment, or Buddhahood, understood as full awakening endowed with omniscient wisdom and boundless compassion. This realization is not sought as a private escape from suffering, but as the most effective condition for truly benefiting others. Enlightenment here signifies a state in which the true nature of reality is fully known and compassion is utterly unobstructed, so that insight and love function together without contradiction. The bodhisattva’s path is therefore oriented toward a transformation so complete that nothing remains that could limit the capacity to help beings.

Equally central is the purpose for which this enlightenment is pursued: the liberation of all sentient beings from suffering and from the cycle of samsara. The bodhisattva as envisioned by Śāntideva aspires to guide beings out of confusion and pain, ultimately leading them to awakening and liberation themselves. Enlightenment is thus conceived as a universal project rather than an individual attainment, a vow to work for the welfare of every being, however long that may take. In this way, the bodhisattva ideal unites the realization of perfect wisdom with an unshakeable commitment to the freedom and awakening of all.