Acharya Shri Virasena Ji Maharaj | |
|---|---|
 Acharya Virasena | |
| Personal | |
| Born | 792 CE |
| Died | 853 (aged 60–61) |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Sect | Digambara |
| Notable work(s) | Dhavala |
| Religious career | |
| Predecessor | Aryanandi |
| Successor | Jinasena |
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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]
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]
