Mandukya Karika, verse 4.36-37

Text

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.


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)

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. 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.