Enthusiastic devotion to Buddhism was thus started by the queens of kings Pophung and Chinhung, and it influenced many aristocratic women of Shilla. As Buddhism gradually filtered down through the society, it reached ordinary women, and many of them must have been ordained. Some probably became bhikkunis when they were young and unmarried, and some, like Chiso, the wife of General Kim Yu-shin, became bhikkunis after losing their husbands. Due to the many aristocratic women involved, the Bhikkuni Sangha must have held quite a high position in the society of the day.

There were some objections to kings and queens being ordained due to the social system of the time. The highest members of society belonged to the group known as the bone-rank and the people found it hard to accept that its leaders left to live in temples. But with the strong will and dedication such as the Buddha and his step-mother had shown, these social restrictions were overcome and it was possible for the kings and queens who wanted to be ordained, to leave and live in temples. The socio-political status of the queens must have been reflected in their position in the Sangha so that the relationship between the queens and the other bhikkunis, who were often the queen's maids, couldn't have been equal.

These bhikkunis seem to have lived more freely than the original Indian ordained women. One of the reasons was due to the evolution of Buddhism itself constituted by the influence of different cultures as Buddhism moved from India through China. In addition, the social status of the women involved must have affected the way they lived. The evidence for this supposition is well found in the system of ordained officials.