Eighteen root downfalls

Eighteen root downfalls - according to the tradition of Profound View, and following specifically the Akashagarbha Sutra, and Shantideva's Compendium of Training and other texts, these are the main actions to be avoided once one has taken the bodhisattva vow. They consist of the five downfalls of the king, the five downfalls of the minister, and the eight downfalls of ordinary people. Two further downfalls, abandoning the bodhichitta of aspiration and action, are sometimes added to make a total of twenty downfalls.