The System of the Vedanta according to Badarayana's Brahma-Sutras and Cankara's Commentary c8.s3.t3.7

c8.s3.t3.7

—Let us take commands such as: a man shall visit his wife at a fit time—a man shall ask his consent of the sacrificial animal—a man shall stand by his friend; and prohibitions such as: thou shalt not commit adultery,—thou shalt not kill,—thou shalt avoid thy enemy, such commands and prohibitions are valid in spite of the unity of the Âtman, on account of the connection with the body. For on this connection with the body depends the mistaken opinion that we see the Self in the body, which is and remains common to all creatures with the exception of such as attain to perfect knowledge. The commands and prohibitions refer to this distinction [of the Ego from the non-Ego] though it depends on Ignorance and is caused by the connection with the body and the other Upâdhis; and only for him who has attained perfect knowledge do they cease to hold good; as he has no further object to aim at, he has also no further obligations. For him there is nothing to be toiled after or avoided because there is nothing that reaches beyond his own Self (ātman); but a duty towards one's own Self is meaningless (na ca ātmā ātmani eva niyojyaḥ syāt). It is true he has a body, but he knows that its structure (saṃhalatvam) is a mere illusion. Only for him who is still subject to the illusion of the body does the illusion of duty still persist: how should it persist for him who has recognised the unity of the soul?