Śāntarakṣita

A son of the king of Sahor, he received his monastic vows from Jñānagarbha at Nālandā and became a recognized expert of the Svātantrika form of Madhyamaka. He composed several important works such as the Ornament of the Madhyamaka (Sanskrit, Madhyamaka-alaṃkāra) and the Compendium of Truths (Sanskrit, Tattva-saṃgraha). During the reign of Trisong Detsen, he went to Tibet in the later part of the 8th century ce where he lived for thirteen years until his death. He designed and supervised the construction of Samyé Monastery, introduced the monastic community to Tibet, and began the major task of translating Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan.