“May I Be a Bridge”: Shantideva's Bodhisattva Vow
Here is selfless love made into a vow. The monk Shantideva does not merely wish others well — he aspires to become whatever they need: a guard for the defenceless, a guide for the lost, and, in the line everyone remembers, a boat, a raft, a bridge for all who long to cross to safety. Here is the verse, its meaning, and its source.
“May I be a guard for those who are protectorless, a guide for those who journey on the road. For those who wish to cross the water, may I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.” — Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva 3.18 (trans. Padmakara Translation Group)
What it means
This is the bodhisattva ideal in its most tender form. A bodhisattva is one who vows to awaken not for themselves alone but for the sake of all beings — and here that vast aspiration comes down to earth as a list of utterly practical things to be: a protector where someone is unguarded, a guide where someone is lost, a boat or a bridge where someone needs to cross.
The bridge is the image that lingers, and rightly. A bridge exists wholly for others. It keeps nothing back for itself; it is content to be walked over, again and again, so that others can reach the far side. To vow to be a bridge is to vow to make your own life that available, that self-forgetting — not out of grim duty, but out of love wide enough to want it.
The verse continues in the same spirit, Shantideva offering himself as “a lamp for those who long for light, a bed for those who yearn to rest,” and a servant to all who need one. It is one of the most quoted and most chanted passages in all of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Where it comes from
The verse is 3.18 of the Bodhicaryāvatāra (“The Way of the Bodhisattva”), by Shantideva, an 8th-century monk of the great monastic university of Nālandā. It comes from the chapter in which he formally takes up bodhicitta — the awakening heart-mind set on the liberation of all beings. The poem is a cornerstone of Mahāyāna practice and central to Tibetan Buddhism; the wording here is the Padmakara Translation Group’s.
Why it matters
Shantideva turns compassion from a feeling into an intention to act — the same outward turn the Buddha taught as loving-kindness, and the same insight behind his other beloved verse that all joy comes through wishing others happiness.
Browse more sourced lines in our Buddhist quotes collection.
Frequently asked questions
What is this quote about?
It is one of the most loved expressions of the bodhisattva ideal: the wish to become whatever suffering beings need. Shantideva aspires to be a protector for the defenceless, a guide for travellers, and — in the famous image — a boat, a raft, and a bridge for all who long to cross to safety. It is selfless love turned into a vow.
Is this a Buddha quote?
No. It is Shantideva's, an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk, from his poem the Bodhicaryāvatāra ('The Way of the Bodhisattva'), verse 3.18. The verse is recited and cherished across the Mahāyāna and Tibetan traditions, but the words are his, composed more than a thousand years after the Buddha.
What does it mean to be 'a bridge' for others?
A bridge exists entirely for others to cross; it asks nothing for itself and is content to be walked upon. Shantideva is vowing to make his own life like that — useful, available, and self-forgetting — for the sake of everyone trying to cross from suffering toward freedom. The verse continues with him offering himself as a lamp, a bed, and a servant to all who need one.
Sources
- Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra) 3.18, trans. Padmakara Translation Group (Shambhala, rev. ed. 2006).