Acharya Shri Virasena Ji Maharaj | |
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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 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]
Amoghavarsha I was the greatest emperor of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, and one of the most notable monarchs of Ancient India. His reign of 64 years is one of the longest precisely dated monarchical reigns on record. Many Kannada and Sanskrit scholars prospered during his rule, including the great Indian mathematician Mahaviracharya who wrote Ganita-sara-samgraha, Jinasena, Virasena, Shakatayan and Sri Vijaya.
Jinasena was a monk and scholar in the Digambara tradition of Jainism. He was patronized by the Rashtrakuta Emperor Amoghavarsha I. He was the author of Adipurana and Mahapurana.
Ācārya Bhadrabāhu was, according to the Digambara sect of Jainism, the last Shruta Kevalin in Jainism. He was the last acharya of the undivided Jain sangha. He was the spiritual teacher of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire.
Kunda kunda was a Digambara Jain monk and philosopher, who likely lived in the second century CE or later.
Jain monasticism refers to the order of monks and nuns in the Jain community and can be divided into two major denominations: the Digambara and the Śvētāmbara. The monastic practices of the two major sects vary greatly, but the major principles of both are identical. Five mahāvratas, from Mahavira's teachings, are followed by all Jain ascetics. Historians believe that a united Jain sangha (community) existed before 367 BCE, about 160 years after the moksha (liberation) of Mahavira. The community then gradually divided into the major denominations.
Rishabhanatha, also Rishabhadeva, Rishabha or Ikshvaku, is the first tirthankara of Jainism. He was the first of twenty-four teachers in the present half-cycle of time in Jain cosmology, and called a "ford maker" because his teachings helped one cross the sea of interminable rebirths and deaths. The legends depict him as having lived millions of years ago. He was the spiritual successor of Sampratti Bhagwan, the last Tirthankar of previous time cycle. He is also known as Ādinātha, as well as Adishvara, Yugadideva, Prathamarajeshwara and Nabheya. He is also known as Ikshvaku, establisher of Ikshvaku dynasty. Along with Mahavira, Parshvanath, Neminath, and Shantinath, Rishabhanatha is one of the five Tirthankaras that attract the most devotional worship among the Jains.
Acharya Shri Shantisagar Ji (1872–1955) was an Indian monk of the Digambar Jain faith. He was the first Acharya (preceptor) and a leader of his sect in the 20th century. Shanti Sagar ji revived the teaching and practice of traditional Digambara practices in North India. He was lustrated as a kshullaka into the Sangha by Devappa (Devakirti) Swami Ji. He took his ailaka deeksha before an image of the Tirthankara Neminatha. In about 1920, Shantisagar Ji became a full muni (monk) of the Digambara sect of Jainism. In 1922, at Yarnal village, Belgaum district, Karnataka, he was given the name "Shanti Sagar Ji".
Neminātha, also known as Nemi and Ariṣṭanemi, is the twenty-second Tīrthaṅkara of Jainism in the present age. Neminatha lived 81,000 years before the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Samudravijaya and Queen Shivadevi of the Yadu dynasty in the north Indian city of Sauripura. His birth date was the fifth day of Shravana Shukla of the Jain calendar. Krishna, who was the 9th and last Jain Vasudev, was his first cousin.
Kashtha Sangha was a Digambar Jain monastic order once dominant in several regions of North and Western India. It is considered to be a branch of Mula Sangh itself. It is said to have originated from a town named Kashtha.
The Ṣaṭkhaṅḍāgama is the foremost and oldest Digambara Jain sacred text.
Siddhasēna Divākara was a jain monk in the fifth century CE who wrote works on Jain philosophy and epistemology. He was like the illuminator of the Jain order and therefore came to be known as Divākara, "Sun". He is credited with the authorship of many books, most of which are not available. Sanmatitarka is the first major Jain work on logic written in Sanskrit.
Acharya Pujyapada or Pūjyapāda was a renowned grammarian and acharya belonging to the Digambara tradition of Jains. It was believed that he was worshiped by demigods on the account of his vast scholarship and deep piety, and thus, he was named Pujyapada. He was said to be the guru of King Durvinita of the Western Ganga dynasty.
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion belonging to the śramaṇa tradition. It prescribes ahimsa (non-violence) towards all living beings to the greatest possible extent. The three main teachings of Jainism are ahimsa, anekantavada (non-absolutism), aparigraha (non-possessiveness). Followers of Jainism take five main vows: ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya (chastity), and aparigraha. Monks follow them completely whereas śrāvakas (householders) observe them partially. Self-discipline and asceticism are thus major focuses of Jainism.
Jain literature refers to the literature of the Jain religion. It is a vast and ancient literary tradition, which was initially transmitted orally. The oldest surviving material is contained in the canonical Jain Agamas, which are written in Ardhamagadhi, a Prakrit language. Various commentaries were written on these canonical texts by later Jain monks. Later works were also written in other languages, like Sanskrit and Maharashtri Prakrit.
Sukhlal Sanghvi, also known as Pandit Sukhlalji, was a Jain scholar and philosopher. He belonged to the Sthanakvasi sect of Jainism. Pandit Sukhlal lost his eyesight at the age of sixteen on account of smallpox. However, he persisted and became profoundly versed in Jain logic and rose to become a professor at Banaras Hindu University. Paul Dundas calls him one of the most incisive modern interpreters of Jain philosophy. Dundas notes that Sanghavi represents what now seems to be a virtually lost scholarly and intellectual world. He was a mentor for famous Jain scholar Padmanabh Jaini. During his lifetime he won such awards as the Sahitya Akademi Award and won recognition from the Government of India by getting Padma Bhushan award. Sukhlalji was also known as Pragnachaksu because he was so vastly learned despite being visually disabled.
Jnanarnava is an important Jain text in Sanskrit on various topics useful to the mendicant but focuses primarily on meditation. Another name for this text is Yogapradipadhikara meaning, the Book that Illuminates Meditation.
Digambara is one of the two major schools of Jainism, the other being Śvētāmbara (white-clad). The Sanskrit word Digambara means "sky-clad", referring to their traditional monastic practice of neither possessing nor wearing any clothes.
Samantabhadra was a Digambara acharya who lived about the later part of the second century CE. He was a proponent of the Jaina doctrine of Anekantavada. The Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra is the most popular work of Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra lived after Umaswami but before Pujyapada.
Gunabhadra was a Digambara monk in India. He co-authored Mahapurana along with Jinasena.