Darśana
Darśana · darśana, “holy sight”
Grammar: neuter noun, from the root dṛś (to see): “seeing, sight”.
Meaning: holy sight: the seeing of Bhagavān Vishṇu or Bhagavān Śiva, a devatā, a mūrti or a mahātmā, which purifies and blesses the one who sees; also the granting of such sight. (The word also names a way of seeing the truth, a school of the śāstras, which is a separate sense.)
In the scriptures: Ajāmila, saved from the Yamadūtas by the attendants of Śrī Hari, said: “To me, ill-fated as I am, came the darśana of the best of the devatās. By seeing such beings the mind becomes serene; there must be some puṇya from before in me.” Later, as he fixed his mind on Bhagavān Vishṇu at Haridvāra, he saw the same attendants before him and bowed to them, and after their darśana he gave up his body on the bank of the Gaṅgā and at once took on the form of an attendant of Bhagavān Vishṇu (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 2).
When autumn came, munis set out for the darśana of mahātmās, as brahmacārīs who had finished their Veda study set out for home and kings set out to conquer their enemies (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 20).
When Śrī Kṛshṇa appeared again before the weeping gopīs, smiling, lotus-faced, in his yellow garment and vanamālā, they rose all at once as the limbs come alive when the life-breath returns. One held his hand, one gazed at his face unsatisfied, one drew him into her heart through her eyes and sank like a yogī into an ocean of bliss. The very darśana of Śrī Kṛshṇa was a great festival; they rejoiced and, like worldly people who have found a knower of Brahman, gave up the burning of separation (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 32).
Related terms: Dṛshṭi · Sākshātkāra · Satsaṅga · Mahātmā · Pratyaksha
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 6, Chapter 2; Skandha 10, Chapters 20, 32