Biography:Virasena

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Acharya Shri

Virasena

Ji Maharaj
Virasena
Acharya Virasena
Personal
Born792 CE
ReligionJainism
SectDigambara
Notable work(s)Dhavala
Religious career
PredecessorAryanandi
SuccessorJinasena

Acharya Virasena (792-853 CE),[1] also known as Veerasena, was a Digambara monk and belonged to the lineage of Acharya Kundakunda.[2] He was an Indian mathematician and Jain philosopher and scholar. He was also known as a famous orator and an accomplished poet.[3] His most reputed work is the Jain treatise Dhavala.[4] The late Dr. Hiralal Jain places the completion of this treatise in 816 AD.[5]

Virasena was a noted mathematician. He gave the derivation of the volume of a frustum by a sort of infinite procedure. He worked with the concept of Ardha Chheda: the number of times a number could be divided by 2; effectively base-2 logarithms. He also worked with logarithms in base 3 (trakacheda) and base 4 (caturthacheda).[6]

Virasena gave the approximate formula C = 3d + (16d+16)/113 to relate the circumference of a circle, C, to its diameter, d. For large values of d, this gives the approximation π ≈ 355/113 = 3.14159292..., which is more accurate than the approximation π ≈ 3.1416 given by Aryabhata in the Aryabhatiya.[7]

Life

Virasena was proficient in astrology, grammar, logic, mathematics and prosody. He wrote Dhavala, a commentary on Jain canon Shatakhandagama. He also started the work on Jayadhavalaa which was competed by his disciples. He was among the jewels of Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha.[8]

His lineage started with Chandrasena who initiated Aryanandi.[9] Aryanandi initiated Virasena and Jayasena.[9] Virasena initiated six disciples who were Dasharayguru, Jinasena, Vinayasena, Shripal, Padmasena and Devasena.[9] Dasharayguru and Jinasena initiated Gunabhadra who later initiated Lokasena.[9] Vinayasena initiated Kumarasena who started the Kashtha Sangha.[9]

See also

  • Indian mathematics
  • Umaswami

References

Citations

  1. Jaini 1991, p. 111.
  2. Indranandi. Shrutāvatāra
  3. Jinasena. Ādi Purāņa
  4. Satkhandagama : Dhavala (Jivasthana) Satparupana-I (Enunciation of Existence-I) An English Translation of Part 1 of the Dhavala Commentary on the Satkhandagama of Acarya Pushpadanta & Bhutabali Dhavala commentary by Acarya Virasena English tr. by Prof. Nandlal Jain, Ed. by Prof. Ashok Jain ISBN:9788186957479
  5. Nagrajji, Acharya Shri (2003). Agama and Tripitaka: Language and Literature. Concept Publishing Company. p. 530. ISBN 9788170227311. 
  6. Gupta, R. C. (2000), "History of Mathematics in India", in Hoiberg, Dale; Ramchandani, Indu (in en), Students' Britannica India: Select essays, Popular Prakashan, p. 329, https://books.google.com/books?id=-xzljvnQ1vAC&q=Virasena+logarithm&pg=PA329 
  7. Mishra, V.; Singh, S. L. (February 1997), "First Degree Indeterminate Analysis in Ancient India and its Application by Virasena", Indian Journal of History of Science 32 (2): 127–133, http://www.new1.dli.ernet.in/data1/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5d_127.pdf 
  8. Natubhai Shah 2004, p. 31.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Pannalal Jain 1951, pp. 30-31.

Sources

External links