Saṃskāra, Vāsanā, Karma, Chitta: The classical indian theory of mental imprint and its twentieth-century recovery
International Journal of Sanskrit Research July 1, 2026 DOI: 10.22271/23947519.2026.v12.i4c.3254 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Vocabulary Carry investment Psychological theory Empirical research Folk psychology Epistemology Psychoanalysis Cognitive psychology |
| Key points | Argues that Indian philosophical traditions developed a multi-term vocabulary for the empirical psychology of habit, with saṃskāra as the discrete imprint of each act and vāsanā as the accumulated dispositional residue, providing a precise conceptual framework that anticipates modern psychological theories. |
Abstract
Between roughly 500 BCE and the thirteenth century CE, the Indian philosophical traditions — Sāṃkhya-Yoga, Buddhist Abhidharma, and the various schools of Vedānta — developed a precise, multi-term vocabulary for what we should now call the empirical psychology of habit. Four terms carry the conceptual weight: saṃskāra, the discrete imprint left in the mind by each act; vāsanā, the accumulated dispositional residue or
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