Bodhisattvasaṃvara

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Key Term	bodhisattvasaṃvara
Hover Popup Choices	bodhisattva vow; ethical code of a bodhisattva; altruistic restraint; commitment of the awakening mind
In Tibetan Script	བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྡོམ་པ་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration	byang chub sems dpa'i sdom pa
Devanagari Sanskrit Script	बोधिसत्त्वसंवर
Romanized Sanskrit	bodhisattvasaṃvara
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering	changchub sempay dompa
Chinese Script	菩薩戒
Chinese Pinyin	púsà jiè
Japanese Transliteration	bosatsukai
Korean Script	bosalgye
English Standard	bodhisattva vow
Alternate Spellings	bodhisattva vow; byang sems sdom pa; code of the bodhisattva
Term Type	Noun
Source Language	Sanskrit
Basic Meaning	The formalized vow to attain the fully-enlightened state of buddhahood for the welfare of all beings
Has the Sense of	The formal commitment taken through a ceremony to engage in the practices of the bodhisattva path, and to wish to attain enlightenment in order to lead all beings to that state
NEW: Context Descriptions (Glossary-DefinitionTsadra)	Mahāyāna (Indo-Tibetan): The bodhisattva vow is the formalization of the commitment to the awakening mind (bodhicitta). It is fundamentally structured around the 'three-fold code of ethics' (trividha-śīla-skandha; T. tshul khrims kyi phung po gsum): The ethics of restraining from non-virtuous conduct (Skt. saṃvara-śīla; T. nyes spyod sdom pa'i tshul khrims): Avoiding actions that harm others or stem from selfish motivations. The ethics of gathering virtuous qualities (Skt. kuśala-dharma-saṃgrāhaka-śīla; T. dge ba chos sdud kyi tshul khrims): Proactively cultivating the perfections and amassing merit. The ethics of benefiting sentient beings (Skt. sattvārtha-kriyā-śīla; T. sems can don byed kyi tshul khrims): Directly acting to alleviate the suffering and facilitate the enlightenment of all beings. Lineages of Transmission: In the Tibetan tradition, two primary lineages for taking the vow are preserved. The 'Profound View' lineage typically enumerates eighteen root downfalls (rtsa ltung bco brgyad). The 'Vast Conduct' lineage details four root downfalls and forty-six secondary faults (nyes byas). While the specific counts vary, they share the central downfall of abandoning the altruistic aspiration of bodhicitta. Vajrayāna (Indo-Tibetan): Within the context of Secret Mantra (Skt. Guhyamantra), the bodhisattva vow is an indispensable prerequisite for receiving tantric empowerments (Skt. abhiṣeka). It forms the common ethical basis upon which the specific tantric commitments (Skt. samaya; T. dam tshig) are established. In the higher tantras, the maintenance of the bodhisattva ethical code is seen as the necessary container for the advanced meditative realizations of the generation and completion stages. Dzogchen/Mahāmudrā (Indo-Tibetan): In these traditions, the bodhisattva vow is understood not merely as a set of rules but as the natural expression of the realized nature of mind. When the practitioner recognizes the luminous nature of the mind, compassion and the commitment to benefit others arise spontaneously without conceptual effort. Here, the essence of the vow is identified with remaining in the state of non-dual awareness while engaging in the welfare of beings.
NEW: Glossary-PopUpBeginnerDefinition	The ethical code or 'vow' taken by a practitioner on the Great Vehicle path. It is a formal commitment to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings, involving the avoidance of selfish actions and the active practice of helping others. Unlike other Buddhist vows, this commitment is maintained across multiple lifetimes until all beings are liberated.
NEW: Glossary-PopUpScholarDefinition	The bodhisattvasaṃvara (T. byang chub sems dpa'i sdom pa) constitutes the ethical foundation of the Mahāyāna path, rooted in the cultivation of bodhicitta. It is categorized into two main lineages in the Indo-Tibetan tradition: the 'Profound View' lineage and the 'Vast Conduct' lineage. The vow involves the formal restraint from specific root downfalls (mūlapatti) and secondary faults (duṣkṛta), categorized under the 'three-fold code of ethics' (trividha-śīla-skandha): the ethics of restraint, the ethics of gathering virtuous qualities, and the ethics of benefiting sentient beings.
NEW: Glossary-DefinitionBodhicittaWiki	The bodhisattvasaṃvara is the practical application of bodhicitta. While 'aspirational bodhicitta' (Skt. praṇidhicitta; T. smon sems) involves the sincere wish to achieve buddhahood for all, the taking of the vow marks the transition to 'engaging bodhicitta' (Skt. prasthānacitta; T. 'jug sems). By formally assuming the vow, the practitioner enters the ranks of the 'engaging' bodhisattvas, committing to the actual conduct of the perfections. This ethical code is considered unique because it is not lost upon death; once authentically generated, the seed of the bodhisattva vow is carried in the mental continuum across lifetimes until the ultimate goal of enlightenment is reached.
NEW: Glossary-DefinitionLotsawas	bodhisattva vow; code of the bodhisattva; altruistic restraint; bodhisattva ethical code; commitment of the awakening mind; vow of the son of the conquerors
Definitions
Tshig mdzod Chen mo	གཞན་ཕན་དོན་གཉེར་གྱི་བསམ་པས་ཀུན་ནས་བསླངས་ཏེ། གཞན་གནོད་གཞི་དང་བཅས་པ་སྤང་ཞིང་། གཞན་ཕན་གཞི་དང་བཅས་པ་སྒྲུབ་པའི་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་སོ།