Mandukya Karika, verse 3.10

Text

संघाताः स्वप्नवत्सर्वे आत्ममायाविसर्जिताः ।
आधिक्ये सर्वसाम्ये वा नोपपत्तिर्हि विद्यते ॥ १० ॥

saṃghātāḥ svapnavatsarve ātmamāyāvisarjitāḥ |
ādhikye sarvasāmye vā nopapattirhi vidyate || 10 ||

10. All aggregates (such as body, etc.) are produced by the illusion of the Ātman (i.e., the perceiver) as in a dream. No rational arguments can be adduced to establish their reality, whether they be equal or superior (to one another).

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

The aggregates of body, etc., answering to the pots, etc., in the illustration, are produced,—like the body, etc., seen in dream or conjured up by the magician—by the illusion1 of the Ātman, i.e., the Avidyā (ignorance) which is in the perceiver. That2 is to say, they do not exist from the standpoint of the ultimate Reality. If3 it be argued, in order to establish their reality, that there is a superiority (among the created beings),—as in the case of the aggregates of cause and effect constituting gods who are superior to lower beings, such as birds and beasts—or that there is an equality (of all created beings), yet no cause4 can be set forth regarding their creation or reality. As there is no cause therefore all these are due to Avidyā or ignorance; they have no real existence.