 Witnessing consciousness is elusive because it is unobjectifiable. It escapes our attention because it stands behind cognitive intentionality and cannot attend to itself. One cannot isolate the witness by pulling it to one side and objects to another, for in drawing a line between the two, both become objects of consciousness. Consciousness cannot become an objective content of consciousness. If one infers that this non-finding of consciousness is evidence of its non-existence, Śaṅkara counters that one cannot deny their own consciousness (BrSūBh 2.3.7). Consciousness is self-evident. It cannot admit its own absence or antecedent negation, for any dismissal of consciousness presupposes its very existence. Consciousness thus falls outside the scope of negation.