Sin and Sorrow Need Two; Before the One, They Evaporate
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When this world had not yet taken any shape at all - who, back then, sinned? Who did good deeds?
When the One rested in His own deep stillness - who was there to envy? Whom would hatred have aimed at?
When there was no color and no form anywhere - who felt joy? Who felt sorrow?
When the One was all, entirely - where was clinging? Whose were the doubts? He staged this drama Himself. There is no other Maker.
Before there was a second thing, there was no one to do wrong, no one to hate, and no one to be sad.
This verse starts a chain of questions: jab... tab — when there was only the One... then who? Jab akaar ih kachh na daristaytaa — when this world had no shape at all. Paap punn tab kah tay hotaa — then who did wrong, and who did good? Paap means wrong-doing, and punn means good deeds. Who could hate, or envy, when nothing stood facing anything else?
These questions are not riddles. They work like soap on grease. Every heavy feeling and judgment is carried back to the time before there were two: wrong, goodness, hate, envy, joy, sorrow, clinging, doubt. Each one melts away there. Every one of them needs two, and there was only One.
What does that mean for us now? These things belong to the play, not to what lies underneath it. Aapan khayl aap varteejaa — the One staged this khayl, this play, Himself. Inside the play they are fully real. At the level of the Player, they weigh nothing. Think of a movie. The rain on the screen is real in the story, but the screen never gets wet. This does not say your sadness is fake. It shows you a place deep inside where sadness cannot follow.
Can you hate, envy or doubt if there is literally nothing and no one other than you? What does that tell you about where those feelings live?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI