'Oppenheimer' links with Supreme Science
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Amar Krishna Paul
Contd from previous issue
BIOPIC’S LINK WITH THE GITA: In an informal chat, Cillian Murphy, the lead actor of the film, said that he had read the Bhagavad Gita while preparing for 'Oppenheimer'. Mr Murphy’s revelation is gaining traction on the internet since Mr Oppenheimer believed to have famously said that he was reminded of the Gita in the immediate aftermath of successfully testing the world's first atomic bomb and invoked a quote: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
In an interview with film critic Sucharita Tyagi, Mr Murphy was asked about Mr Oppenheimer being influenced by sacred text, to which the actor said even he was highly inspired by it.
“I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation, and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring. I think it was a consolation to him, he kind of needed it and it provided him a lot of consolation, all his life,” the actor said in the video posted by Ms Tyagi on her YouTube channel.
Historically, the first atomic explosion in the world took place in a desert in Alamogordo in the State of New Mexico, USA at 5.45 am on July 16, 1945. It changed the world. Oppenheimer was the Director of the Manhattan Project.
Linguistically, Dr. Oppenheimer was proficient in Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek. Apart from being a great scientist, he was a great lover of Sanskrit. He had studied a vast number of Sanskrit books in their original form, including the Bhagavad Gita (which is part of the Bhishma Parva of the great epic Mahabharata).
When the massive nuclear blast whose blazing light covered most of the sky took place, the following words in Chapter 11 verse 12 came out spontaneously from Dr. Oppenheimer’s lips: “If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form. This verse is in the Chapter where Lord Krishna reveals his universal form to warrior Arjuna. On seeing this form Arjuna was terrified, and asks : “Tell me, who are you ?”
Then Lord Krishna replies: “Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you [the Paandavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.” ( Chapter 11 verse 32).
Although Arjuna knew that Lord Krishna was his friend and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was puzzled by the various forms exhibited by Krishna. Therefore he asked further about the actual mission of this devastating force. It is written in the Vedas that the Supreme Truth destroys everything.
Much later, in a television interview in 1965, Dr. Oppenheimer admitted, “We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed (immediately after the nuclear explosion), and a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Vedic Science, the Bhagavad Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade Arjuna that he should do his duty, and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form, and says: "Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.”
INDIA’S CALL: The scientist’s Indian connect and roots could be related to the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. This revelation has been made by author Nayantara Sahgal in her book Jawaharlal Nehru Civilizing A Savage World.
(To be contd)
Contd from previous issue
BIOPIC’S LINK WITH THE GITA: In an informal chat, Cillian Murphy, the lead actor of the film, said that he had read the Bhagavad Gita while preparing for 'Oppenheimer'. Mr Murphy’s revelation is gaining traction on the internet since Mr Oppenheimer believed to have famously said that he was reminded of the Gita in the immediate aftermath of successfully testing the world's first atomic bomb and invoked a quote: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
In an interview with film critic Sucharita Tyagi, Mr Murphy was asked about Mr Oppenheimer being influenced by sacred text, to which the actor said even he was highly inspired by it.
“I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation, and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring. I think it was a consolation to him, he kind of needed it and it provided him a lot of consolation, all his life,” the actor said in the video posted by Ms Tyagi on her YouTube channel.
Historically, the first atomic explosion in the world took place in a desert in Alamogordo in the State of New Mexico, USA at 5.45 am on July 16, 1945. It changed the world. Oppenheimer was the Director of the Manhattan Project.
Linguistically, Dr. Oppenheimer was proficient in Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek. Apart from being a great scientist, he was a great lover of Sanskrit. He had studied a vast number of Sanskrit books in their original form, including the Bhagavad Gita (which is part of the Bhishma Parva of the great epic Mahabharata).
When the massive nuclear blast whose blazing light covered most of the sky took place, the following words in Chapter 11 verse 12 came out spontaneously from Dr. Oppenheimer’s lips: “If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form. This verse is in the Chapter where Lord Krishna reveals his universal form to warrior Arjuna. On seeing this form Arjuna was terrified, and asks : “Tell me, who are you ?”
Then Lord Krishna replies: “Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you [the Paandavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.” ( Chapter 11 verse 32).
Although Arjuna knew that Lord Krishna was his friend and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was puzzled by the various forms exhibited by Krishna. Therefore he asked further about the actual mission of this devastating force. It is written in the Vedas that the Supreme Truth destroys everything.
Much later, in a television interview in 1965, Dr. Oppenheimer admitted, “We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed (immediately after the nuclear explosion), and a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Vedic Science, the Bhagavad Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade Arjuna that he should do his duty, and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form, and says: "Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.”
INDIA’S CALL: The scientist’s Indian connect and roots could be related to the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. This revelation has been made by author Nayantara Sahgal in her book Jawaharlal Nehru Civilizing A Savage World.
(To be contd)