Mandukya Karika, verse 4.83

Text

अस्ति नास्त्यस्ति नास्तीति नास्ति नास्तीति वा पुनः ।
चलस्थिरोभयाभावैरावृणोत्येव बालिशः ॥ ८३ ॥

asti nāstyasti nāstīti nāsti nāstīti vā punaḥ |
calasthirobhayābhāvairāvṛṇotyeva bāliśaḥ || 83 ||

83. Childish persons verily cover It (fail to know It) by predicating of It such attributes as existence, nonexistence, existence and non-existence and absolute nonexistence, derived respectively from their notion of change, immovability, combination of both and absolute negation.

Shankara Bhashya (commentary)

Attachment of the learned to such predicates1 as existence, non-existence, etc., serves verily as a veil between them and the Supreme Reality. What wonder is there that childish persons on account of their undeveloped intellect are unable to grasp Ātman! This Kārikā brings out the aforesaid idea. Some2 disputant asserts that Ātman exists. Another3 disputant, viz., the Buddhist, says that it is non-existent. A third4 disputant, the Jaina, who is a pseudo-nihilist, believing in both the existence and non-existence of Self, proclaims that Ātman both exist and does not exist. The5 absolute nihilist says that nothing exists at all. He6 who predicates existence of Ātman associates it with changeability in order to make it distinct from such impermanent objects as a jar, etc. The7 theory that Ātman is non-existent, i.e., inactive, is held on account of its undifferentiated nature. It 8 is called both existent and non-existent on account of its being subject to both changeability and immutability. Non-existence is predicated of Ātman on account of everything ending in absolute negation or void. All the four classes of disputants, mentioned above, asserting existence, non-existence, existence and non-existence, and total non-existence (about Ātman), derived respectively from their notion of changeability, immutability, combination of both and total negation, reduce themselves to the position of the childish, devoid of all discrimination; and by associating Ātman with all these illusory ideas (Kalpanā) cover Its9 real nature. If these (so-called) learned men act as veritable children on account of their ignorance of Ultimate Reality, what is to be said regarding those who are, by nature, unenlightened!