Mandukya Karika, verse 4.59

Text

यथा मायामयाद्बीजाज्जायते तन्मयोङ्कुरः ।
नासौ नित्यो न चोच्छेदी तद्वद्धर्मेषु योजना ॥ ५९ ॥

yathā māyāmayādbījājjāyate tanmayoṅkuraḥ |
nāsau nityo na cocchedī tadvaddharmeṣu yojanā || 59 ||

59. The illusory sprout comes forth from the illusory seed. This illusory sprout is neither permanent nor destructible. The same applies to Jīvas.

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

Now, is the birth of Jīvas, that are seen to exist, illusory? To this question, our reply is as follows:—From1 an illusory mango seed is born a mango sprout which is equally illusory. This sprout2 is neither permanent nor destructible, simply because it does not exist. In3 the like manner, ideas of birth and death are applied to the Jīvas. The purport is that from the standpoint of the Ultimate Reality, neither birth nor death is applicable to Jīvas.