Illusion Needs an Audience; Worry Needs a Border

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

Tricks need someone to fool, and worry needs something to guard. Before the play, there was only the One.

Jah achhal achhayd abhayd samaa-i-aa — when the One who cannot be fooled rested in Himself. Achhal means un-foolable. Oohaa kiseh bi-aapat maa-i-aa — then who could maa-i-aa sway? Maa-i-aa, or Maya, is the world's glitter, the magic show that pulls us along. Sukhmani elsewhere pictures her as a great enchantress. But a magic trick needs an audience. Before the play, Maya had no one to trick, because the Un-foolable cannot be fooled.

Tihu gun kaa naahee parvays — the three gun had not come in. The three gunas are the moods of nature: rajas, restless energy, tamas, heaviness, and sattva, calm clarity. Think of them as the stage lights, switched on when the show begins.

Worry melts the same way. Tah ka-un achint kis laagai chintaa — who was carefree, and who worried, when the One was all? Worry, like fear, is about guarding a border. With no border, there is nothing to guard.

Then the quietest, strangest line. Tah ka-un kathai ka-un sunnaihaaraa — who spoke, and who listened? Words themselves came after the One. The Guru's words know they are made of stage material: words about what came before words. Ashtapadee 18 admitted that one tongue can never say it all. This goes even further.

The close gives up completely. Naanak aapas ka-o aapeh pahoochaa — only He can reach Himself. No one can climb to this peak. It can only come down to us. And the next verse says it did.