Darshana. Sanskrit term meaning "vision" or "view". In Indian philosophy the goal of every system is to attain an intuitive vision of the whole of reality. Each of the various philosophical and religious systems claims to provide such a vision but can do so only in an imperfect way. In the last resort, each individual has his or her own darshana. The notion is expressed in the old tale of the four blind men who encountered an elephant. One, grasping its huge leg said it was like a tree trunk; another who had caught its tail declared it to be like a rope; yet another, taking hold of its trunk, pronounced the elephant to be like a snake; the last, feeling its big, flappy ear, said the elephant is like a rug. None of them was wrong; each of them was right, but each was limited in his darshana of the whole.

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989