Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva: Depending on the interpretation one gives sattva, this term means "spiritual warrior" (see Hardayal, The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, p. 9) or "spiritual being," which is the more common, if less interesting, interpretation. The term originally referred to ascetics of various religious traditions but was eventually taken over by Buddhist and was extended not only to monks but to nuns as well as to male and female householders who devoted themselves to achieving enlightenment for others as well as for themselves. Thus, the term was used to represent the Mahayana ideal with its emphasis on compassion and wisdom as opposed to the Hinayana ideal of the arhan with its emphasis on morality and meditation.

---Red Pine in his commentary on the Diamond Sutra---