Person

Shantarakshita

8th century · 8th century · Also known as Śāntarakṣita

Shantarakshita was an Indian Buddhist philosopher and abbot of the great monastery of Nalanda who was invited to Tibet by the emperor Trisong Detsen in the eighth century. He helped found Samye, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, around 779, and ordained the first Tibetan monks. His philosophical work combined the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools.

Shantarakshita
Image: Suraj Belbase · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Tibetan EmpireImpact

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Shantarakshita. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shantarakshita
MLA
“Shantarakshita.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shantarakshita. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Shantarakshita.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shantarakshita.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Shantarakshita’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shantarakshita (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻