Bhranti darshana is an illusory perception, like a mirage in Hindu philosophy. The illusion lies in the misinterpretation of what is perceived, and can be overcome by improving the means and conditions of knowledge by applying further tests to the perception. Hindu thinkers have given a variety of explanations and definitions to erroneous perception in their theories of khyati (knowledge).
When a shell is mistaken for silver or a rope for a snake,
the Nyaya School of philosophy states it is an anyatha-khyati (error of
misplacement). The Samkhya Yoga system calls it a viparita khyati (error of
superimposition). The Jainas and Bhatta Mimamsakas see it as sat-khyati (true
knowledge mixed with faulty relations). Thus, in the erroneous perception of a
golden egg, both the egg and gold are true; the error is in the relationship.
For Prabhakara Mimamsakas, error as such (akhyati) is non-knowledge, or absence
of correct knowledge.
The Yogachara Buddhists regard all knowledge of separate objects
as atma-khyati (erroneous), while in Madhyamika Buddhism all knowledge of the
asat-khyati (non-existent). Vedanta takes error to be anirvacaniya (indeterminate,
non-describable).
In Yogasutra (I.30), Patanjali mentions bhranti darshana as
one of the impediments to Yoga. It means the misconceptions of the Yoga-practitioner
regarding what he has achieved, the overestimation and misjudgement of his
progress. This blocks further progress towards the goal of yoga. For removing
this and other such hindrances, Patanjali advocates the practice of concentration
on a single entity.
A deeper philosophical meaning of bhranti darshana is
viparyaya or avidya (basic ignorance) which is the root-cause of samsara (the cycle
of death and rebirth). This ignorance is taken by all schools of philosophy to
be without a beginning. But its nature and the means of its removal are
understood differently by all of them.