Mandukya Karika, verse 2.5

Sanskrit text, IAST transliteration and English translation

स्वप्नजागरितस्थाने ह्येकमाहुर्मनीषिणः ।
भेदानां हि समत्वेन प्रसिद्धेनैव हेतुना ॥ ५ ॥

svapnajāgaritasthāne hyekamāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ |
bhedānāṃ hi samatvena prasiddhenaiva hetunā || 5 ||

5. The thoughtful persons speak of the sameness of the waking and dream states on account of similarity of objects (perceived in both the states) on grounds already described.

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

The identity¹ (of the experiences) of the dream and waking states is declared by the wise on account of the reason, already stated, i.e., the experience of objects (in both the states) is associated with subject-object² relationship. This Kārikā enunciates the conclusion that has already been arrived at in the previous inference by the wise.

Anandagiri Tika (glossary)

¹ Identity—Sometimes experience is said to be of three kinds. Pāramārthika, Prāthibhāsika, and Vyāvahārika, making the last two different from each other. Gauḍapāda does not make any distinction between the dream (prātibhāsika) and waking (vyāvahārika) experiences. Compare Kārikā 14 (1st chapter).

² Subject-object—The two factors, namely, the seer and the seen, are equally present in both the waking and the dream states.

The dream and the waking experiences are identical because both are characterised by the same condition, viz., the characteristic of “being perceived”. Therefore they, both, are unreal. The reason of “being seen,” as already described, is a matter of common experience.