ŚĪLABHADRA (c. 529–645; Tib., Ngang tshul bzan po; Chin., Jiexian; Jpn., Kaiken) was an Indian Buddhist dialectician belonging to the Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda school, a master of the Nālandā monastic university, a disciple of Dharmapāla, and the teacher of Xuanzang. Several accounts of Śīlabhadra's life are extant. The Tibetan sources are fragmentary, but, owing to the fact that Xuanzang gives an account of him in his writings, those in Chinese are more informative. From the Tibetan biographers, such as Taranatha and Sum pa mkhan po, one learns only that Śīlabhadra was contemporary with Śākyamati, Yaśomitra, and Saʾi rtsa lag. But Chinese biographies such as those found in Xuanzang's Xiyu ji (viz. T.D. 51.914c–915a) and Yiqing's Nanhai jikgui neifa juan (T.D. 54.229b) enable one to construct an outline of his religious career.

Śīlabhadra...