As far as I am aware, there are two different traditions in the Bodhisattva vows: the Chinese and the Tibetan. In the chinese tradition, the vows for lay followers and monks and nuns are different. The Chinese version for ordained people has ten root vows and forty-eight secondary vows. Although the listing of the vows is not the same, they are very similar to the Tibetan tradition. Below explanation follows the Tibetan tradition.

The bodhisattva or bodhicitta vows comprise eighteen root and forty-six secondary vows. These vows have been compiled in the Tibetan tradition from various authoritative texts.

Breaking a root vow completely breaks your bodhichitta ordination, whereas breaking a secondary or branch vow does not completely break your ordination, but damages it. Even if you have not taken the vows, they are useful as guidelines in how to properly engage in the Bodhisattva practices. This will also help strengthen aspiring bodhicitta. One should take the time to become familiar with the vows before taking them. That way you can avoid the discovery later on that you are unable to keep them. These vows are quite a commitment, as they are not just taken for this life, but all future lives as well!

The following description of the bodhichitta vows is given according to the 'Compendium of Trainings by Shantideva the Luminous Jewel Garland of Instructions on the Three Vows' by Gelong Tsewang Samdrub, and teachings by Geshe Tashi in London (February and March 2001) which were based on Lama Tsong Khapa's commentary.