Mandukya Karika, verse 4.39

Text

असज्जागरिते दृष्ट्वा स्वप्ने पश्यति तन्मयः ।
असत्स्वप्नेऽपि दृष्ट्वा च प्रतिबुद्धौ न पश्यति ॥ ३९ ॥

asajjāgarite dṛṣṭvā svapne paśyati tanmayaḥ |
asatsvapne'pi dṛṣṭvā ca pratibuddhau na paśyati || 39 ||

39. Being deeply impressed with the (reality of the) unreal objects which a man sees in the waking state, he sees those very things in dream as well. Moreover the unreal objects cognised in the dream are not seen again in the waking state.

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

(Objection)—It is you who stated that the dream is the effect of the waking experience. That being the case, how do you refute causality? (Reply)—Listen to our explanation of the causality, referred to in that instance. One perceives in the waking state objects which are unreal like the snake imagined in the rope. Being deeply impressed by such (illusory) perception, he imagines in the dream, as in the waking; state, the subject-object relationship and thereby perceives (dream) objects. But though full of the unreal seen in the dream, he does1 not see those (unreal) objects, over again, in the waking state. The reason is the absence of the imaginary subject-object relationship (one experiences in dream). The word “cha,” “moreover” in the text denotes that the causal relationship between the waking and the dream states is not always observed. Similarly,2 things seen in the waking state are not, sometimes, cognised in dream. Therefore the statement that the waking condition is the cause of the dream is3 not made from the standpoint of the Ultimate Reality.