Dhavalā Mathematics of Vīrasena: On History of Jaina Mathematics in India

Ancient India contributed a lot to the development of mathematics and the role of Jaina Scholars is striking in this significance. Mathematics found in Jaina Canonical Literature is recognized as Jaina Mathematics. Jainācāryas who were basically philosophers but their texts contained enough mathematical knowledge. Yativrsabha, Nemicandra, Vīrasena, Mahāv ī ra, Mādhavacandra and Pandit Todaramala include in this list. A philosopher mathematician Ā cārya Vīrasena is one of them whose contribution in the world of mathematics is remarkable. He wrote a commentary “ Dhaval ā Tikā” on Satkhandāgama, first century A.D., of Puspadanta and Bhūtabali in the beginning of ninth century A.D. It is an important source of mathematical information about the darkest period of history of Indian mathematics and treated as Āgama in jaina community especially in digambara sect. The paper aims to furnish the information about Dhavalā- Mathematics of Vīrasena . The concepts of classification of numbers, mathematical operations, laws of indices, set theory, logarithm, sequence and series, area and volume of solid figures are all available in Dhavalā. These concepts are helpful to understand how mathematical ideas conceived. Keywords : Dhavalā Mathematics, Indian Mathematics, Jaina Mathematics, Mathematics of Vīrasena.