Chandrakirti was born in a Brahmin family Samandhar (modern day Kerala) in South India at the beginning of the sixthcentury. Astrologers prophesied that he would become a great being if he entered the Buddha’s teachings, so his parents sent him to Nalanda University. Because he was ordained with the abbot Chandranatha, he was given the name Chandrakirti. He gradually became fully ordained. He exhaustively studied the three pitakas and four tantric classes under the Acharyas Dharmapala and Chandranatha. He thoroughly learned Nagarjuna’s system of Madyamika, along with the pith instructions, from Buddhapalita’s disciple Kamalabuthi. By fervently applying himself to meditation day and night, before long he achieved direct visions of Manjushri and Nagarjuna and received many instructions from them. During his service to the Sangha, he drew a picture of a cow on a wall, milked it, and offered the to the Sangha. He became abbot of Nalanda University and had a vision of Arya Avalokiteshavara. For seven years he debated with Chandragomin. He was renowned as an emanation of Manjushri and Buddhapalita. He composed Entering the Middle Way and its autocommentary in accord with the thought of Nagarjuna, as well as Clear Words, a commentary on Root Wisdom, and other texts, thus initiating the Madyamika Consequentialist school. He also composed Clear Lamp, a commentary on the Guhyasamaja root tantra, about which scholars say, along with Clear Words, “in the sky are the sun and the moon; on the ground are the two Clears.” He composed about twenty complete eloquent treatises that were later translated into Tibetan and became important subjects for Tibetan scholars. He achieved supreme siddhis and lived quite a long life.