vow ［誓願］ ( pranidhāna;  seigan): In Buddhism, vows that Buddhas and bodhisattvas take to lead living beings to enlightenment. There are two kinds of vows: universal and individual. The bodhisattvas make four universal vows when they embark on Buddhist practice: (1) to save innumerable living beings, (2) to eradicate unlimited earthly desires, (3) to master inexhaustible doctrines, and (4) to attain unsurpassed enlightenment. Among individual vows, the forty-eight vows of Amida Buddha and the twelve vows of Medicine Master Buddha are well known. These Buddhas made their respective vows in a previous existence before attaining Buddhahood. Such vows made by Buddhas while engaged in bodhisattva practice in previous lives are called “original vows,” or pūrvapranidhāna (pūrva meaning former or previous) in Sanskrit.