The first appearance of the concept of the irreversible bodhisattva seems to be in the Dīpaṃkara 然燈佛 prediction myth. References to this myth occur in T 224.8.458b5–6 and T 418.13.915c13–14, suggesting that it may predate the earliest Mahāyāna sutras. Although the original intention of the myth may have been to invest Śākyamuniʼs enlightenment with a sense of sacredness through having it prophesized by an already enlightened being, the story appears to have subsequently assumed greater importance for what it said about the qualities a bodhisattva must possess in order to be predicted, i.e., be assured of becoming a buddha.

In one version of the myth (T 1428), it seems that it is simply great merit that will unfailingly propel a bodhisattva to enlightenment. In other versions (e.g. Mahāvastu; T 125; Nidāna-kathā) the Buddha Dīpaṃkara appears to recognize the resoluteness of the future Śākyamuniʼs vow to attain highest enlightenment as the primary cause of Buddhahood.

Certification of a bodhisattvaʼs 'production of the thought of enlightenment' (bodhicittôtpāda; 發心) and validation of his or her vow to become a buddha was an important issue in conservative Buddhist discourse, where the circumstances under which such a vow could legitimately be made were very restricted. The Buddhavaṃsa 佛種姓經, for example, states that the vow had to be made in the presence of a Buddha, presumably so that it could be certified with a prediction.2 The authors of some Abhidharma works went so far as to take the position that there really was no such thing as a reversible bodhisattva, since the production of the thought of enlightenment was by definition irreversible (see the Mahāvibhāṣā [T 1545.27.886c29–887a1] and the Abhidharmakośa [AK, IV: 108cd])

In Mahāyāna sutras however, irreversible bodhisattvas and potentially reversible bodhisattvas are both frequently depicted and contrasted in a number of ways: irreversible bodhisattvas are those who have set out in the path for a long time, are fewer in number, and are eligible to receive certain teachings that are unsuitable for novice bodhisattvas.

Although these sutras often mention irreversible bodhisattvas, they are generally not explicit about the basis of irreversibility, other than associating it with having received a prediction. A passage in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, for example, describes certain dreams that would indicate whether a bodhisattva had received a prediction (possibly in a former lifetime, and of the bodhisattva was otherwise unaware). Other signs such as the power of exorcism and the ability to extinguish a blazing fire on command are also said to indicate that a bodhisattva was predicted (vyākṛta; 授記).

The Aṣṭasāhasrikā 大明度經 also devotes an entire chapter to describing the signs of an irreversible bodhisattva. (不退轉品 T 225.8.494b28) Here, we see the irreversible bodhisattva presented as a kind of ideal bodhisattva—he does not enter into duality, he cultivates the ten virtues, he is without sloth and dullness, he wears clean robes, etc. Most significantly, he does not waver when Māra 摩羅 entices him to abandon the bodhisattva path in favor of the much easier and shorter path of the śrāvaka 聲聞. This is an important reinterpretation of irreversibility, for it means not simply the impossibility of turning back from highest enlightenment, but also the impossibility of turning back to the other soteriological options of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha 辟支佛.

This not turning back is attributed elsewhere in the sutra to the bodhisattvaʼs skill-in-means 方便, which in this context refers to the ability to undertake the traditional practices that would normally result in nirvana 涅槃, while 'not making anything into a sign' (na nimittīkaroti). While śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas see both the defilements (kleśas) to be abandoned and the fruits of the āryan path as real, irreversible bodhisattvas, 'having viewed them with knowledge and vision' (jñānena ca darśanena ca dṛṣṭva) pass beyond the levels of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha. When they do so they are said to abide on the irreversible stage (avinivartanīya-bhūmi 不退地).

This bhūmi does not appear to feature as part of any highly systematized bodhisattva path in the shorter version of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra, but in the longer version we see the delineation of a two-phase bodhisattva path with the second phase identified as the bodhisattvaʼs irreversible stage. The point of separation between the two phases was called entering into 'the fixed condition of a bodhisattva' (bodhisattva-niyāma 菩薩地)

To advance to this stage, bodhisattvas had to have already abandoned all defilements 煩惱, and have gained the certitude that dharmas are unproduced (anutpattikadharmakṣānti 無生法忍). While abiding on the irreversible stage, bodhisattvas gradually abandoned the residues (vāsanā 習氣) of the defilements they had abandoned during the first phase.

As Mahāyāna gradually became more institutionalized, a systematized bodhisattva path consisting of ten bhūmis 十地 became the center of its world-view. The irreversible stage became associated with the seventh 遠行地 (or eighth 不動地) bhūmi, the first six (or seven) bhūmis corresponding the stages of the śrāvakaʼs (and pratyekabuddha's) progress. With this development, the irreversible bodhisattva became a remote and abstract concept in Mahāyāna institutional reality. If the irreversible bodhisattva was once considered a normative ideal, it later came to be constructed in a way that ordinary people would have found it to identify with, thereby possibly eliminating disputes about who could legitimately claim to be a bodhisattva.

Perhaps the final development leading to the irrelevance of the irreversible bodhisattva was the impact of Dharmakīrtiʼs axiom that a future result cannot be deduced from the existence of a present cause. Citing Pramāṇavārttika I.7 in his commentary on the 'Signs of Irreversibility' chapter of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā (不退轉品 T 225.8.494b28), Haribhadra adopts the position that a sign of irreversibility is an 'essential identity' (svabhāva) sign,3 from which the mere potential to attain enlightenment could be inferred—in other words, the assured future enlightenment of an irreversible bodhisattva can only ever be a matter of faith.