Abhayākaragupta was born in the city of Gaur

Gaur

The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...

, West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, in Eastern India, and is thought to have flourished in the late 11th-early 12th century CE, and died in 1125.

As a youth he went to the country of Magadha

Magadha

Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

 in Central India, "where he learned the five sciences and became well known as a pandit."

During the reign of King Rāmapāla

Ramapala

Ramapala was the successor to the Pala king Shurapala II, and fifteenth ruler of the Pala line reigning for 53 years. He is recognised as the last great ruler of the dynasty, managing to restore much of the past glory of the Pala lineage. He crushed the Varendra rebellion and extended his empire...

 (c. 1075-1120), there was a great revival of Buddhism under Abhayākaragupta. He taught at the great Vikramaśīla University as well as at Vajraśana (Bodhgaya) and Odantapuri

Odantapuri

Odantapuri, also called Odantapura or Uddandapura, was a Buddhist vihara in what is now Bihar, India. It was established by king Dharmapala of Pala dynasty in the 8th century. It is considered the second oldest of India's universities and was situated in Magadha, Recently it is known as a Bihar...

. He is credited with many miracles including feeding the starving in the city of Sukhavati

Sukhavati

Sukhāvatī refers to the western Pure Land of the Buddha Amitābha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Sukhāvatī translates to "Land of Bliss."-In other languages:In traditional Mahayana Buddhist countries, there are a number of translations for Sukhāvatī....

 from his mendicant bowl which was replenished from heaven, and brought a dead child to life in the great cemetery of Himavana.

About a century after the Kalachakra

Kalachakra

Kalachakra is a Sanskrit term used in Tantric Buddhism that literally means "time-wheel" or "time-cycles".The spelling Kalacakra is also correct....

 is thought to have been written, Abhayākaragupta put the Mantrayana-Madhyamaka

Madhyamaka

Madhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...

 doctrine in its final form.

He composed the Ocean of Means of Achievement (sgrub thabs rgya mtsho) "directed by Manjushri", and many other books including the Ornament to the Subduer's Thought (thub pa'i dgongs rgyan, munimatālaṃkāra), which is a commentary on Maitreya

Maitreya

Maitreya , Metteyya , or Jampa , is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he or she is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on...

's Ornament for Clear Realization (mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan, abhisamayālaṃkāra).

In his book Niṣpannayogāvalī, he explained how to draw 26 kinds of mandalas, "describing the titles and figures of Buddhas and divine beings and their seeds, etc."

Yogambara

Yogambara

Yogambara , is a tutelary deity in Tibetan Buddhism belonging to the Wisdom-mother class of the Anuttarayoga tantra....

 (Tibetan: nam khai nal jor), is a tutelary deity in Tibetan Buddhism belonging to the Wisdom-mother class of the Anuttarayoga tantra. He was made famous in the Vajravali text of the Indian Pandita Abhayakaragupta and through the tradition of Marpa

Marpa Lotsawa

Marpa Lotsawa , sometimes known fully as Lhodak Marpa Choski Lodos or commonly as Marpa the Translator, was a Tibetan Buddhist teacher credited with the transmission of many Buddhist teachings to Tibet from India, including the teachings and lineages of Vajrayana and Mahamudra.-Biography:Born as...

 and Ngog lotsawa ('translator of the scriptures').

Abhayākaragupta's school of Buddhism flourished in India until the invasions of the Turks in the 13th century killed or scattered them; but his teachings were continued and revered in Tibet.

In the lineage of the Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

an Panchen Lama

Panchen Lama

The Panchen Lama , or Bainqên Erdê'ni , is the highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism...

s there were considered to be four Indian and three Tibetan incarnations of Amitabha

Amitabha

Amitābha is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism...

 Buddha before Khedrup Gelek Pelzang

Khedrup Gelek Pelzang

Khedrup Gelek Pelzang , better known as Khedrup Je, the 1st Panchen Lama, was one of the main disciples of Lama Tsongkhapa ....

, who is recognised as the 1st Panchen Lama. The lineage starts with Subhuti

Subhuti

Subhūti was one of the Ten Great Śrāvakas of Śākyamuni Buddha, and foremost in the understanding of emptiness. In Sanskrit, his name literally means "Good Existence" . He is also sometimes referred to as or "Elder Subhūti"...

, one of the original disciples of Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha

Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...

. Abhayākaragupta is considered to be the fourth Indian incarnation of Amitabha Buddha in this line.