Bodhicitta and Bodhisattva in Early Mahayana Buddhism (Park 2003)
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Description
The term bodhisattva (bodhisattva, bodhisatta) was initially used as a designation for Shakyamuni Buddha's previous lives and his training period before attaining perfect enlightenment. This designation was limited to Shakyamuni alone and was never given to his disciples. For example, the formulaic phrase for bodhisattva is well known: "Monks, when I had not yet attained perfect enlightenment (sambodha) and was still a bodhisattva."
However, in the Buddhist biography "Mahavastu-avadana," in the section on the ten stages (dasabhumi), while referring to Shakyamuni entering the womb as a bodhisattva, the plural expression "bodhisattvas" (bodhisattvah) is used. The bodhisattvas are in samsara (cycle of rebirth), but they are not born through parents; rather, they are born through their own vows. The text describes how bodhisattvas make vows toward bodhi for the benefit and happiness of sentient beings.
In early Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of the bodhisattva underwent further transformation, with bodhisattvas becoming the most important active agents, and entirely new buddhas appearing. In the "Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra" (Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines), a bodhisattva is one who has aroused bodhicitta, and it is precisely because of this mind that one reaches supreme perfect enlightenment (anuttara-samyak-sambodhi). Various minds are mentioned as factors that make one a bodhisattva, along with bodhicitta. It teaches that the essential nature of this mind is pure.
Bodhicitta is generally interpreted as "the mind seeking bodhi." According to Har Dayal, in the compound bodhi-citta, citta is interpreted as "thought" or "idea," meaning "to perceive" or "to form an idea in the mind."
Regarding the formation of this term bodhicitta, there is an argument that it is not a shortened form of the phrase "anuttarayam samyaksambodhau cittam utpadayati" (arousing the mind toward supreme perfect enlightenment), but rather a newly coined term that evolved from "prathamacitta" (the first arousing of the mind). However, there is also the opposing argument that since this term is extremely rare in early Mahayana sutras, it is a shortened form of the more commonly used phrase "anuttarayam samyaksambodhau cittam utpadayati." (Translation of the Japanese supplied by Claude.ai Jan 13, 2026)
