bodhisattva

noun Buddhism.

a person who has attained prajna, or Enlightenment, but who postpones Nirvana in order to help others to attain Enlightenment: individual Bodhisattvas are the subjects of devotion in certain sects and are often represented in painting and sculpture.

noun

(in Mahayana Buddhism) a divine being worthy of nirvana who remains on the human plane to help men to salvationCompare arhat

1828, from Sanskrit, literally “one whose essence is perfect knowledge,” from bodhi “perfect knowledge” (see Buddha) + sattva “reality, being.”