ABSTRACT
In Hindu tradition, the category of religious experience is diffi cult to specify,
mainly because there are several terms that refer to specifi c aspects. These
are ancient terms and not simply a result of colonial infl uences or Western
invention. In addition to general terms associated with jñāna, such as abhijñatā, translated as experience or knowledge or wisdom (Biswas 1983), two terms that more closely approximate an English-language understanding
of “experience” are darśana and bhāva. Darśana refers to experience associated with perception or observation,
and it is used primarily to mean religious vision, though the term also can
designate philosophy and science. It may occur spontaneously, as when a
statue of a god or goddess is suddenly perceived as living and the observer is
said to have darśana of the deity. Or the person may have acquired spiritual knowledge from repeated direct perceptions (bhūyodarśana). Experiential knowledge of this sort is considered valuable in various types of Hinduism,
especially in devotional traditions. As Diana Eck (1981) notes, the central
act of Hindu worship, from the perspective of the lay person, is to stand in
the presence of the deity and to see and be seen by the deity. Though darśana may be understood as a gift of divine grace, it may also appear as the result
of religious practice in past lives.
