Ahaṃkāra

Ahaṃkāra (devanāgarī: अहंकार) is a Sanskrit term derived from aham ("ego", "I") and kara ("maker", "doer", from the verbal root kri, "to do"). It is the sense of “I-am-ness” the individual ego, which feels itself to be a distinct, separate entity. It provides identity to our functioning, but ahamkāra also creates our feelings of separatness. Ahaṃkāra is one of the four parts of the antahkarana (the "inner organ"), other three parts being buddhi (the intellect), citta (the memory) and manas (the mind).