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viparyayaḥ mithyā-jñānam-atadrūpa-pratiṣṭham

विपर्ययः मिथ्याज्ञानमतद्रूपप्रतिष्ठम्

Wrong perception is false knowledge not established in form

viparyaya - wrong perception, misapprehension, error, mistake; intrinsic misconception; reversed, inverted, perverse, contrary to

mithyā - falsely, deceitfully, untruly; incorrectly, wrongly, improperly

jñāna - knowing; knowledge; higher knowledge

atat - not that

rūpa - any outward appearance or phenomenon or colour; form, shape, figure; aggregate

pratiṣṭha - established

Commentary by T Krishnamacharya:

“Even when our understanding is consistent with our perception or repeated experience, it does not necessarily indicate a fact. For instance, if we assume that a person is a woman simply because that person is dressed in a woman’s clothes, this is called Viparyaya or mental activity that is based on something other than fact. Viparyaya, then, is comprehension based on a perceived characteristic in the observer, which leads to false assumptions.”

“A particular Dharma is not there, but somewhere we feel it is there.”

Commentary by Paul Harvey:

“Wrong perception is false knowledge that has no basis.”

“Viparyaya is merely an opinion, convincing in its rightness to exist. A flight of fancy, posing, as if a truth.”

“Viparyaya is seeing what we want to see, or not seeing what we need to see.”