Tibetan hagiographies suggest he was a Brahmin born in South India, studied under Isvarasena, belonged to the Mimamsa school of Hinduism, left Mimamsa and moved to Nalanda where he interacted with 6th century Dharmapala.
Tibetan hagiographies suggest he was a Brahmin born in South India and was the nephew of the Mimamsa scholar Kumārila Bhaṭṭa. As a student of Buddhism, he first studied under Isvarasena, and later moved to Nalanda where he interacted with 6th century Dharmapala.