Shantideva (Sanskrit: Śāntideva; Chinese: 寂天; Tibetan: ཞི་བ་ལྷ།, THL: Zhiwa Lha; Mongolian: Шантидэва гэгээн; Vietnamese: Tịch Thiên) was an 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet, and scholar at the mahavihara of Nalanda.

[1] Two works of Shantideva are extant, the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra and the Śikṣāsamuccaya, both of which were written with the intention of being training manuals for one who intends to follow the path of the bodhisattva.

[3] According to one source, Shantideva was born in the Saurastra region (in modern-day Gujarat), son of a King Kalyanavarman, and went by the name Śantivarman.

[4] But Vibhūticandra's Bodhicaryāvatāratātparyapañjikā Viśeṣadyotanī, the earliest extant biography of Shantideva, details that he was born in Southern India, in the city of Sringara, and his father was a King Mañjuśrīvarman.

As he was appointed the head of these people, Shantideva demonstrated his supernatural abilities as he managed to make a single bowl of rice suffice for all of the 500.

"[8] It is a long poem describing the process of enlightenment from the first thought to full buddhahood and is still studied by Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists today.

An introduction to and commentary on the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra by the 14th Dalai Lama called A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night was printed in 1994.

"[10] In line with his views on personal identity and the nature of the self, Śāntideva wrote that one ought to "stop all the present and future pain and suffering of all sentient beings, and to bring about all present and future pleasure and happiness", in what may have been "the very earliest clearly articulated statement of that view, preceding Jeremy Bentham by approximately a thousand years".

[2] Shantideva states: Those who long to overcome the abundant miseries of mundane existence, those who wish to dispel the adversities of sentient beings, and those who yearn to experience a myriad of joys should never forsake bodhicitta.Shantideva also argued that the development of Bodhicitta was beneficial not just to those who are following the path of the Bodhisattva but also to those who are pursuing their well-being and happiness.

His view is that the mind of one who has developed Bodhicitta is the solution to countering mental afflictions (klesas) such as cravings (Taṇhā) and anger (krodha).