ahankara

[ uh-huhng-kahr-uh ]

noun

, Hinduism, Buddhism.

1. the false identification of the purusha, or true inner self, with the body, the mind, or the outside world.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ahankara¹

< Sanskrit ahaṅkāra ego consciousness, equivalent to aham I + -kāra making or producing (a sound), saying, as in śītkāra making the sound śīt