Within the Mahāyāna vision, nirvāṇa is not treated as a private escape from the world but as a realization that transforms one’s relationship to saṃsāra itself. Earlier understandings often highlight nirvāṇa as the cessation of rebirth and suffering for the individual practitioner, whereas Mahāyāna thought emphasizes that nirvāṇa and saṃsāra are ultimately not two separate realities. Through the lens of emptiness (śūnyatā), both bondage and liberation are seen as empty of inherent existence, and the apparent opposition between them dissolves at the level of ultimate truth. Nirvāṇa, in this sense, is not a distant realm but is realized within the very conditions of ordinary existence.

This reorientation is closely tied to the shift from the ideal of the arhat to the ideal of the bodhisattva. Rather than seeking a “nirvāṇa for oneself alone,” the bodhisattva aspires to full Buddhahood, a complete awakening characterized by perfect wisdom joined with boundless compassion. Such a being does not withdraw from the world but remains actively engaged in saṃsāric realms, using skillful means to benefit others. Nirvāṇa is thus understood less as a final resting place and more as the realization that enables unimpeded compassionate activity.

Mahāyāna sources also stress that nirvāṇa cannot be captured by ordinary conceptual categories. It is not annihilation, nor simply the absence of suffering, but the direct realization of suchness (tathatā), free from all mental fabrication. From this standpoint, to cling even to the idea of nirvāṇa as a fixed state would miss its very nature. The bodhisattva’s vow reflects this insight: true liberation is incomplete if pursued as a merely personal attainment while other beings remain in suffering.

Some Mahāyāna traditions further articulate this vision through the teaching of Buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha). In that perspective, nirvāṇa is the unveiling of an already-present enlightened potential that all beings share, rather than a special state reserved for a few. Recognizing this universal capacity deepens the sense that nirvāṇa is inseparable from the world of interdependent beings and that the path of awakening is, at its heart, a commitment to universal liberation rather than solitary release.