Chandrakirti (IAST: Candrakīrti; Sanskrit: चंद्रकीर्ति; traditional Chinese: 月稱; c. 600 – c. 650, meaning "glory of the moon" in Sanskrit) or "Chandra" was a Buddhist scholar of the Madhyamaka school who was based out of the monastery of Nalanda. He was a noted commentator on the works of Nagarjuna (c. 150 – c. 250 CE) and those of his main disciple, Aryadeva. He wrote two influential works on Madhyamaka, the Prasannapadā and the Madhyamakāvatāra.

Chandrakirti does not seem to have been very influential during the 7th to 10th centuries, and his works were never translated into Chinese. However, by the 11th and 12th centuries, his work became influential in the north, especially in Kashmir and in Tibet. Over time, Chandrakirti became a major source for the study of Madhyamaka philosophy in Tibetan Buddhism. Chandrakirti's work was especially promoted by Tibetans like Rendawa Zhönnu Lodrö and his student Tsongkhapa as a way to counter the widespread influence of the Uttaratantra, and the shentong views associated with it.

As noted by Kevin A. Vose, Chandrakirti is seen by many Tibetan Buddhists as offering "the most thorough and accurate vision of Nāgārjuna's emptiness, which, in turn, most fully represents the final truth of the Buddha's teaching." He is considered by Tibetans to be the main exponent of what they term the "Prāsaṅgika" sub-school of madhyamaka. However, this doxographical categorization only arose in Tibet during the 12th century.

Very little is known about Chandrakirti's life, though Tibetan sources state that he was born in South India, became a Buddhist monk and was a student of Kamalabuddhi (who was the student of Buddhapalita). Tibetan sources like Bu ston and Taranatha state that Chandrakirti was active at Nalanda, where he is said to have become an abbot.

According to Karen Lang:

According to Bus ton and Taranatha, Candrakirti was born in south India and entered a monastery, where he mastered all the Buddhist scriptures. Taranatha adds that he was born in Samanta during the reign of King Sila, the son of Sriharsa. He took a special interest in Nagarjuna's treatises and studied them with the disciples of two rival interpreters, Bhavaviveka and Buddhapalita. He preferred Buddhapalita's interpretations of Madhyamaka teachings and defended them in a famous debate with the grammarian Candragomin, who supported the idealist position of the Vijñanavada (Doctrine of Consciousness) school.

Tibetan sources further add that during the latter period of his life, he returned to the South of India, where he stayed in the region of Koṅkuna. During his time here, he is said to have worked to defeat and convert many non-Buddhists.

Bu ston and Taranatha both reference a debate that took place at Nalanda between Chandrakirti and the poet-lay scholar, Chandragomin. The debate started after Chandrakirti noticed Chandragomin delivering a lecture to a large crowd on the topics of Pāṇinian grammar, sūtra, and tantra. Chandrakirti invited Chandragomin to come with him to Nalanda, where he could be enrolled into the sangha. However, due to a disagreement, a debate ensued between the two, with Chandrakirti arguing for the Madhyamaka position and Chandragomin taking on the Yogacara view. This debate was said to have attracted a large crowd. Over the course of the debate, Chandrakirti failed to defeat Chandragomin's position, and he began to suspect that someone was secretly teaching Chandragomin. Legend even states that Chandragomin was being tutored by the bodhisattva, Avalokiteśvara himself. Both Bu Ston and Taranatha record that the debate only ended after seven years, although neither writer specifies who the winner was.