Mandukya Karika, verse 4.36-37

Sanskrit text, IAST transliteration and English translation

स्वप्ने चावस्तुकः कायः पृथगन्यस्य दर्शनात् ।
यथा कायस्तथा सर्वं चित्तदृश्यमवस्तुकम् ॥ ३६ ॥

svapne cāvastukaḥ kāyaḥ pṛthaganyasya darśanāt |
yathā kāyastathā sarvaṃ cittadṛśyamavastukam || 36 ||

36. The body active in dream is unreal as the other body, quite distinct from it, is perceived. Like the body, everything, cognised by the mind, is unreal.

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

The body, which appears to be wandering in the dream, is unreal; for, another body, quite different from it, is seen in the spot where the dreamer lies. As the body perceived in the dream is unreal, so also all that is cognised by the mind, even in the waking state, is unreal; for, all these perceived objects are mere different states of the mind. The significance of this chapter is that even the waking experiences, on account of their being similar to the dream experiences, are unreal.

Anandagiri Tika (glossary)

The body which is active in the waking state lies motionless in the bed when the dreamer perceives that he is wandering at various places. Therefore from the standpoint of the waking state, this dream body is unreal. Similarly, from the standpoint of the Ultimate Reality the body perceived in the waking state—the body which is felt to be honoured or insulted by the friends or enemies—is also unreal. It is because this body is also an idea in the mind of the perceiver. As dream objects are unreal on account of their being perceived by the mind, so also the objects of the waking experience are unreal for the very same reason. Being perceived by the mind is the common factor in both waking and dream states. Therefore the experiences of both the states bear with them the stamp of unreality.

Verse 4.37

Sanskrit text, IAST transliteration and English translation

ग्रहणाज्जागरितवत्तद्धेतुः स्वप्न इष्यते ।
तद्धेतुत्वात्तु तस्यैव सज्जागरितमिष्यते ॥ ३७ ॥

grahaṇājjāgaritavattaddhetuḥ svapna iṣyate |
taddhetutvāttu tasyaiva sajjāgaritamiṣyate || 37 ||

37. As the experience (of objects) in dream is similar to the experience (of objects) in the waking state, therefore it is thought that the waking experiences are the cause of the dream-experiences. On account of this reason, the waking experiences (supposed to be the cause of the dream) appear as real to the dreamer alone (but not to others).

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

For this reason also, the objects experienced in the waking state are unreal. The dream experiences, like the waking ones, are characterised by the subject-object relationship. On account¹ of this similarity of perception, the waking state is said to be the cause of the dream state. In other words, it is contended that the dream state is the effect of the waking one which is the cause. If that be the case, i.e., if the dream be the effect of waking experiences, then the waking experiences are real to the perceiver of the dream alone (i.e., who takes the dream to be real) and to no one else. The purport² of this Kārikā is that the dream appears to us real, that is to say, dream objects appear as objects of common experience ana therefore real to the dreamer alone. So also the experiences of the waking state, being the cause of the dream, appear as if they were within the common experience of all and therefore real. But the objects perceived in the waking state are not the same to all. Waking experiences are verily like the dream ones.

Anandagiri Tika (glossary)

¹ On account, etc.—In the dream state, dream objects appear as real. To the dreamer, the dream state is the waking state. One knows the dream state to be unreal only from the waking state. As a matter of fact, we are aware of a succession of waking states alone. When we know a previous, waking state to be unreal, we call it dream state. Without dream one could not know the waking. state to be real. Similarly one could not know the waking state as real without the unreal dream state. We speak of the waking state as the cause of the dream state on account of the cognition of the subject-object idea present in both the states. But, really speaking,. there is no causal relation between the two states. The waking state appears real only to him who looks upon dream also as real and who seeking a cause for the dream, takes the waking state as the cause of the dream.

² The purport, etc.—It may be contended that dream experience is private, its objects and actions being cognised by the dreamer and none else. But the waking experience is not private. It is universal. But this is not a fact. The dream universe has not only its suns, moons, and stars, but also its human denizens who perceive them as our fellow-beings of the waking universe do in the waking world. The distinction of private and public to mark the objects of one state from those of the other is futile. The truth is that as in the dream, the action of the mind creates the idea of a universe with the sun, the moon, friends and foes, etc., similarly in the waking state also the mind creates the idea of a universe with all its contents.