Ahamkara (Sanskrit: अहंकार; Romanized: Ahaṁkāra), "I-making," is a Sanskrit term in Hindu philosophy referring to the construction of a self-concept, or the false identification of the self (Purusha, atman) with impermanent entities such as the body, mind, or material objects. It evolves from Mahat-tattva, and is one of the four Antaḥkaraṇa (functions of the mind).
Ahamkara (Sanskrit: अहंकार; Romanized: Ahaṁkāra), "I-making," is a Sanskrit term in Hindu philosophy referring to the construction of a self-concept, or the false identification of the self (Purusha, atman) with impermanent entities such as the body, mind, or material objects. It evolves from Mahat-tattva, and is one of the four Antaḥkaraṇa (functions of the mind).
== Ahamkara in the Bhagavad Gita == In the Bhagavad Gita, ahamkara is presented as the ego, or the false identification of the self (atman) with material nature, which obstructs spiritual liberation (moksha). In 3.27, Krishna warns that actions driven by ahamkara—believing “I am the doer”—bind the soul to karma: “All actions are performed by the gunas of nature, but one deluded by ahamkara thinks, ‘I am the doer.’" Easwaran notes that ahamkara fuels desires that obscure the true self, a theme evident in Krishna’s call for humility in 13.8–12, where virtues like “absence of pride” and “humility” are praised as paths to wisdom. In 18.17, Krishna describes the liberated state: “One who is free from the notion of ahamkara and whose intellect is unattached neither kills nor is bound by actions".
Discovered by embedding cosine similarity (sentence-transformers MiniLM, 384-dim).