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 ardhachheda: the number of times a number can be divided by 2. This coincides with the binary logarithm when applied to powers of two, but gives the 2-adic order rather than the logarithm for other integers.[6][7]
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.[8]
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 completed by his disciples. He was among the jewels of Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha.[9]
His lineage started with Chandrasena who initiated Aryanandi.[10] Aryanandi initiated Virasena and Jayasena.[10] Virasena initiated six disciples who were Dasharayguru, Jinasena, Vinayasena, Shripal, Padmasena and Devasena.[10] Dasharayguru and Jinasena initiated Gunabhadra who later initiated Lokasena.[10] Vinayasena initiated Kumarasena who started the Kashtha Sangha.[10]
^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 ISBN9788186957479
^Gupta, R. C. (2000), "History of Mathematics in India", in Hoiberg, Dale; Ramchandani, Indu (eds.), Students' Britannica India: Select essays, Popular Prakashan, p. 329
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