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1He Himself has staged His own drama;

2O Nanak, there is no other Creator. ||1||

3When there was only God the Master,

4then who was called bound or liberated?

5When there was only the Lord, Unfathomable and Infinite,

6then who entered hell, and who entered heaven?

7When God was without attributes, in absolute poise,

8then where was mind and where was matter - where was Shiva and Shakti?

9When He held His Own Light unto Himself,

10then who was fearless, and who was afraid?

11He Himself is the Performer in His own plays;

12O Nanak, the Lord Master is Unfathomable and Infinite. ||2||

13When the Immortal Lord was seated at ease,

14then where was birth, death and dissolution?

15When there was only God, the Perfect Creator,

16then who was afraid of death?

17When there was only the One Lord, unmanifest and incomprehensible,

18then who was called to account by the recording scribes of the conscious and the subconscious?

19When there was only the Immaculate, Incomprehensible, Unfathomable Master,

20then who was emancipated, and who was held in bondage?

21He Himself, in and of Himself, is the most wonderful.

22O Nanak, He Himself created His Own Form. ||3||

23When there was only the Immaculate Being, the Lord of beings,

24there was no filth, so what was there to be washed clean?

25When there was only the Pure, Formless Lord in Nirvaanaa,

26then who was honored, and who was dishonored?

27When there was only the Form of the Lord of the Universe,

28then who was tainted by fraud and sin?

29When the Embodiment of Light was immersed in His Own Light,

30then who was hungry, and who was satisfied?

31He is the Cause of causes, the Creator Lord.

32O Nanak, the Creator is beyond calculation. ||4||

33When His Glory was contained within Himself,

34then who was mother, father, friend, child or sibling?

35When all power and wisdom was latent within Him,

36then where were the Vedas and the scriptures, and who was there to read them?

37When He kept Himself, All-in-all, unto His Own Heart,

38then who considered omens to be good or bad?

39When He Himself was lofty, and He Himself was near at hand,

40then who was called master, and who was called disciple?

41We are wonder-struck at the wondrous wonder of the Lord.

42O Nanak, He alone knows His own state. ||5||

43When the Undeceiveable, Impenetrable, Inscrutable One was self-absorbed,

44then who was swayed by Maya?

45When He paid homage to Himself,

46then the three qualities were not prevailing.

47When there was only the One, the One and Only Lord God,

48then who was not anxious, and who felt anxiety?

49When He Himself was satisfied with Himself,

50then who spoke and who listened?

51He is vast and infinite, the highest of the high.

52O Nanak, He alone can reach Himself. ||6||

53When He Himself fashioned the visible world of the creation,

54he made the world subject to the three dispositions.

55Sin and virtue then began to be spoken of.