Before There Was Anything, There Was Only the One

ਪਉੜੀ ॥

pa-orhee.

Pauree:

ਆਪਣਾ ਆਪੁ ਉਪਾਇਓਨੁ ਤਦਹੁ ਹੋਰੁ ਨ ਕੋਈ ॥

aapnaa aap upaa-i-on tadahu hor na ko-ee.

He created Himself - at that time, there was no other.

ਮਤਾ ਮਸੂਰਤਿ ਆਪਿ ਕਰੇ ਜੋ ਕਰੇ ਸੁ ਹੋਈ ॥

mataa masoorat aap karay jo karay so ho-ee.

He consulted Himself for advice, and what He did came to pass.

ਤਦਹੁ ਆਕਾਸੁ ਨ ਪਾਤਾਲੁ ਹੈ ਨਾ ਤ੍ਰੈ ਲੋਈ ॥

tadahu aakaas na paataal hai naa tarai lo-ee.

At that time, there were no Akaashic Ethers, no nether regions, nor the three worlds.

ਤਦਹੁ ਆਪੇ ਆਪਿ ਨਿਰੰਕਾਰੁ ਹੈ ਨਾ ਓਪਤਿ ਹੋਈ ॥

tadahu aapay aap nirankaar hai naa opat ho-ee.

At that time, only the Formless Lord Himself existed - there was no creation.

ਜਿਉ ਤਿਸੁ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਿਵੈ ਕਰੇ ਤਿਸੁ ਬਿਨੁ ਅਵਰੁ ਨ ਕੋਈ ॥੧॥

ji-o tis bhaavai tivai karay tis bin avar na ko-ee. ||1||

As it pleased Him, so did He act; without Him, there was no other. ||1||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Before anything, the One made itself — and then there was no other.

It took counsel only with itself, and whatever it decided simply came to be.

No skies, no underworlds, no three worlds — only the Formless One, alone.

Before there was anything, there was only the One — everything since has unfolded from that single reality.

The deeper layer

The first Pauree reaches back before creation to state the raag's non-dual foundation: "He created Himself — at that time, there was no other." There was no second to consult, no material to shape — only the One, self-existent, from which everything later flows. This is Ik Onkar as origin story: not a maker standing apart from what it makes, but a single reality out of which the many unfold.

A Question to Sit With

Does it change how you see the world to imagine everything unfolding from one source, with no 'other' outside it?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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