A bhikkhunī (Pali: 𑀪𑀺𑀓𑁆𑀔𑀼𑀦𑀻, Sanskrit: भिक्षुणी, romanized: bhikṣuṇī) is a fully ordained Buddhist nun. Bhikkhunīs live by the Vinaya, a set of monastic rules and ethical precepts. The total of codes of conduct prescribed for nuns amounts to either 311 (Theravada school), 348 (Dharmaguptaka school), or 364 (Mulasarvastivada school). Until recently, the lineages of female monastics only remained in Mahayana Buddhism and thus were prevalent in countries such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Vietnam, while a few women have taken the full monastic vows in the Theravada and Vajrayana schools. The official lineage of Tibetan Buddhist bhikkhunīs recommenced on 23 June 2022 in Bhutan when 144 nuns, most of them Bhutanese, were fully ordained.
According to the Buddhist Canon, women are as capable of reaching enlightenment as men. The Canon describes that the order of bhikkhunīs was first created by the Buddha at the specific request of his aunt and foster-mother Mahapajapati Gotami, who became the first ordained bhikkhunī. A famous work of the early Buddhist schools is the Therigatha, a collection of poems by elder nuns about enlightenment that was preserved in the Pāli Canon. The canon also describes extra vows required for women to be ordained as bhikkhunīs.
