The term bhikṣu, which is often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest type among the types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the monastic community. The term is explained as having at least three possible meanings: (1) someone who begs; (2) someone who has taken the highest level of Buddhist ordination; and (3) someone who has destroyed mental defilements.

This term refers specifically to a monk who has received ordination, the highest level of monastic initiation available in the Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms begged from the laity.

The term bhikṣu, which is often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest type among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The term is explained as having at least three possible meanings: (1) someone who begs; (2) someone who has taken the highest level of Buddhist ordination; and (3) someone who has destroyed mental afflictions.

Also rendered here as “mendicant.”

A fully ordained monk of the Buddhist Saṅgha. In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, a bhikṣu follows 253 vows as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) by contrast follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically only follow ten).

This term refers specifically to a monk who has received ordination, the highest level of monastic initiation available in the Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” which refers to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms begged from the laity.

Also rendered here as “monk.”

Although the Tib. (dge slong) and Skt. (bhikṣu) terms usually refer to fully ordained monks, in the plural they may encompass nuns as well. Rendering it as “mendicant” in English remains faithful to the original meaning of bhikṣu as “one who begs for alms.”

In early Buddhism, when Buddhist monks were not yet permanently living in monasteries, the term designated an itinerant Buddhist monk living on alms.