(Sanskrit: “that which is, or makes, evident”), in Indian philosophy, the first of the five means of knowledge, or pramāṇas, that enable a person to have correct cognitions of the world. Pratyakṣa is of two kinds, direct perception (anubhava) and remembered perception ( Smṛti). Some schools make a further distinction between indiscriminate perception (nirvikalpaka), in which the object is perceived without its distinguishing features, and discriminate perception (savikalpaka), in which the distinguishing features are both observed and recognized. Indiscriminate perception is important to the followers of the Advaita (Nondualist) school of Vedānta, for it allows for the liberating perception of Brahman (ultimate reality), which is without features. See also pramāṇa. (pramāṇa)