{"id":39958,"date":"2017-02-21T20:12:19","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T14:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org\/?p=39958"},"modified":"2017-02-21T20:12:19","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T14:42:19","slug":"now-become-death-destroyer-worlds-story-oppenheimers-infamous-quote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=39958","title":{"rendered":"&#039;Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds&#039;? The story of Oppenheimer&#039;s infamous quote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, a piece of Hindu scripture ran through the mind of Robert Oppenheimer: \u201cNow I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds\u201d. It is, perhaps, the most well-known line from the Bhagavad-Gita, but also the most misunderstood.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad--article ad--article-rail ad--article-rail-top stick-wrapper stick-wrapper--absolute\">\n<aside class=\"ad-block stick-element stick-element--absolute\">\n<div id=\"ad_830e0fcb-4272-40a9-ab44-697024412fa5\" class=\"ad-container\" data-ad-lazyload=\"True\" data-ad-unit=\"culture\/articles\" data-ad-zone=\"\/5574\/uk.n5574.wired\" data-ad-sizes=\"[[300, 600], [300, 250]]\" data-ad-bidding=\"True\" data-ad-position=\"article-top\" data-ad-targets=\"[&quot;&quot;]\" data-ad-values=\"{&quot;doctype&quot;: &quot;article&quot;, &quot;uk-wired-tags&quot;: [&quot;Nuclear Bombs&quot;, &quot;War&quot;, &quot;Religion&quot;, &quot;Culture&quot;]}\" data-ad-initialised=\"true\" data-google-query-id=\"CLayr6m0odICFYUkaAodGFgHiQ\" data-ad-rendered=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Oppenheimer died at the age of sixty-two in Princeton, New Jersey on February 18, 1967 \u2013 fifty years ago today. As wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, the birthplace of the Manhattan Project, he is rightly seen as the \u201cfather\u201d of the atomic bomb. \u201cWe knew the world would not be the same,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/learning\/general\/onthisday\/bday\/0422.html\">he later recalled<\/a>. \u201cA few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.\u201d Oppenheimer, watching the fireball of the Trinity <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wired.co.uk\/topic\/nuclear\">nuclear<\/a> test, turned to Hinduism. While he never became a Hindu in the devotional sense, Oppenheimer found it a useful philosophy to structure his life around. &#8220;He was obviously very attracted to this philosophy,\u201d says Rev Dr Stephen Thompson, who holds a PhD in Sanskrit grammar and is currently reading a DPhil at Oxford University on other aspects of the language and Hindu faith. Oppenheimer\u2019s interest in Hinduism was about more than a soundbite, it was a way of making sense of his actions.<br \/>\nThe Bhagavad-Gita is 700-verse Hindu scripture, written in Sanskrit, that centres on a dialogue between a great warrior prince called Arjuna and his charioteer Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. Facing an opposing army containing his friends and relatives, Arjuna is torn. But Krishna teaches him about a higher philosophy that will enable him to carry out his duties as a warrior irrespective of his personal concerns. This is known as the dharma, or holy duty. It is one of the four key lessons of the Bhagavad-Gita: desire or lust; wealth; the desire for righteousness or dharma; and the final state of total liberation, or moksha.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"aMExopQnnZ8\" class=\"global__fake-clear bb-figure bb-figure--landscape\">\n<div class=\"bb-figure__wrapper\">\n<div style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"global__image lazyautosizes img-lazyload--loaded td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/405\" alt=\"A scene from the Bhagavad Gita engraved on a Hindu temple showing a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" data-src=\"https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/405\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/405 405w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/810 810w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/1020 1020w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/1440 1440w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/1620 1620w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/2040 2040w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/aMExopQnnZ8\/crop\/3240 3240w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from the Bhagavad Gita engraved on a Hindu temple showing a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna Godong\/UIG via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Seeking his counsel, Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal his universal form. Krishna obliges, and in verse twelve of the Gita he manifests as a sublime, terrifying being of many mouths and eyes. It is this moment that entered Oppenheimer\u2019s mind in July 1945. \u201cIf the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty one,\u201d was Oppenheimer\u2019s translation of that moment in the desert of New Mexico.<br \/>\nIn Hinduism, which has a non-linear concept of time, the great god is not only involved in the creation, but also the dissolution. In verse thirty-two, Krishna speaks the line brought to global attention by Oppenheimer. &#8220;The quotation &#8216;Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds&#8217;, is literally the world-destroying time,\u201d explains Thompson, adding that Oppenheimer\u2019s Sanskrit teacher chose to translate \u201cworld-destroying time\u201d as \u201cdeath\u201d, a common interpretation. Its meaning is simple: irrespective of what Arjuna does, everything is in the hands of the divine.<br \/>\n&#8220;Arjuna is a soldier, he has a duty to fight. Krishna not Arjuna will determine who lives and who dies and Arjuna should neither mourn nor rejoice over what fate has in store, but should be sublimely unattached to such results,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cAnd ultimately the most important thing is he should be devoted to Krishna. His faith will save Arjuna&#8217;s soul.&#8221; But Oppenheimer, seemingly, was never able to achieve this peace. &#8220;In some sort of crude sense which no vulgarity, no humour, no overstatements can quite extinguish,&#8221; he said two years after the Trinity explosion, &#8220;the physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"lbw5vygnvE3\" class=\"global__fake-clear bb-figure bb-figure--landscape\">\n<div class=\"bb-figure__wrapper\">\n<div style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"global__image lazyautosizes img-lazyload--loaded td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/405\" alt=\"The first detonation of a nuclear device, conducted on July 16, 1945 was a result of the Manhattan Project which Oppenheimer led\" width=\"620\" height=\"327\" data-src=\"https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/405\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/405 405w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/810 810w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/1020 1020w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/1440 1440w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/1620 1620w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/2040 2040w, https:\/\/wi-images.condecdn.net\/image\/lbw5vygnvE3\/crop\/3240 3240w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first detonation of a nuclear device, conducted on July 16, 1945 was a result of the Manhattan Project which Oppenheimer led Universal History Archive\/UIG via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<aside class=\"ad--article ad--article-rail stick-wrapper stick-wrapper--fixed\">\n<aside class=\"ad-block stick-element stick-element--fixed\">\n<div id=\"ad_d2c569ae-d64b-4e64-9fba-aa0c026246be\" class=\"ad-container\" data-ad-lazyload=\"True\" data-ad-unit=\"culture\/articles\" data-ad-zone=\"\/5574\/uk.n5574.wired\" data-ad-sizes=\"[[300, 250], [300, 251]]\" data-ad-bidding=\"True\" data-ad-position=\"article-bottom\" data-ad-targets=\"[&quot;&quot;]\" data-ad-values=\"{&quot;doctype&quot;: &quot;article&quot;, &quot;uk-wired-tags&quot;: [&quot;Nuclear Bombs&quot;, &quot;War&quot;, &quot;Religion&quot;, &quot;Culture&quot;]}\" data-ad-initialised=\"true\" data-google-query-id=\"CMzsyr61odICFRMRaAodjukCqw\" data-ad-rendered=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cHe doesn&#8217;t seem to believe that the soul is eternal, whereas Arjuna does,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cThe fourth argument in the Gita is really that death is an illusion, that we&#8217;re not born and we don&#8217;t die. That&#8217;s the philosophy really: that there&#8217;s only one consciousness and that the whole of creation is a wonderful play.\u201d Oppenheimer, it can be inferred, never believed that the people killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not suffer. While he carried out his work dutifully, he could never accept that this could liberate him from the cycle of life and death. In stark contrast, Arjuna realises his error and decides to join the battle.<br \/>\n\u201cKrishna is saying you have to simply do your duty as a warrior,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cIf you were a priest you wouldn&#8217;t have to do this, but you are a warrior and you have to perform it. In the larger scheme of things, presumably The Bomb represented the path of the battle against the forces of evil, which were epitomised by the forces of fascism.\u201d<br \/>\nFor Arjuna, it may have been comparatively easy for Arjuna to be indifferent to war because he believed the souls of his opponents would live on regardless. But Oppenheimer felt the consequences of the atomic bomb acutely. \u201cHe hadn&#8217;t got that confidence that the destruction, ultimately, was an illusion,\u201d says Thompson. Oppenheimer\u2019s apparent inability to accept the idea of an immortal soul would always weigh heavy on his mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, a piece of Hindu scripture ran through the mind of Robert Oppenheimer: \u201cNow I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds\u201d. It is, perhaps, the most well-known line from the Bhagavad-Gita, but also the most misunderstood. Oppenheimer died at the age [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1184],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}