Ahankara

"Ahankara, the ego-function, causes us to believe that we feel like acting, that we are suffering, etc.; whereas actually our real being, the purusa, is devoid of such modifications. Ahankara is the centre and prime motivating force of delusion (abhimana). Ahankara is the misconception, conceit, supposition, or belief that refers all objects and acts of consciousness to an 'I' (aham)....
...One is continually appropriating to oneself, as a result of ahankara, everything that comes to pass in the realms of the physique and psyche, superimposing perpetually the false notion (and apparent experience) of a subject (an 'I') of all the deeds and sorrows. Ahankara is characterised by a predominance of rajas guna, since it is concerned, primarily, with doing."
Heinrich Zimmer
Philosophies of India