hindu-cosmosfeatured in 4 works
Tattva 15 — The Ego-Maker (Ahaṃkāra)
The 'I-maker': the faculty that stamps experience as 'mine' and builds the sense of a separate ego.
Ahaṃkāra is the 'I-maker' — the faculty that takes the flow of experience and stamps it as 'I' and 'mine,' producing the feeling of being a distinct ego with its own stake in things. Evolving out of the intellect, it is the hinge of self-centeredness: it is what claims the body as 'me' and the world as 'for me.' From it, in the Sāṃkhya scheme, the mind and the senses further unfold.
How it traveled
- Bhagavad-gītāKuru-Pañcāla region · -150applies
- UpadeśasāhasrīKālaḍi (Kaladi) · 710explains
- TantrasāraŚrīnagara (Srinagar), Kashmir · 1000explains
- Aṣṭāvakra-gītāKāśī (Varanasi) · 1450explains
Key passages(16)
Very high
Very high
Very high
Very high
High
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi 307↗challenges
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
High
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi 94↗explains
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
Moderate
Moderate