The biopic “Oppenheimer” by Christopher Nolan is doing incredibly well in Indian theatres, although Devdutt Pattanaik questioned Gita’s comprehension of it.
The biopic “Oppenheimer” by Christopher Nolan is doing incredibly well in Indian theatres, selling out for almost two weeks (in advance booking), especially in IMAX. However, a scene in which J. Robert Oppenheimer engages in s*xual activity with Tarot while she has him read a passage from the Bhagavad Gita has caused controversy surrounding the film.
Hinduism adherents have taken great offence to this, with mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik claiming that Oppenheimer mistranslated the sentence “I become Death.”
He used a verse from the Gita to describe the mushroom cloud and the immense firepower he saw during the Trinity Test, the first nuclear explosion ever witnessed as part of the Manhattan Project. This verse was used by Arjuna to describe Krishna after seeing him in his full divine form.
The quote reads, “If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One… I become death, the destroyer of worlds,” which he told his colleagues in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1945. This line was when Krishna described his divine form to Arjuna, explaining to him his duties, that sometimes one must follow their dharma even if it kills them from inside.
Devdutt Pattanaik continued by stating that while researching “Oppenheimer,” he was taken aback by this phrase because he had never before encountered it in the Gita.
“This line was new to me. According to someone, the actual phrase is “kaal-asmi,” which translates to “I am time, destroyer of the world,” and appears in chapter 11, verse 32. As a result, his translation is flawed. ‘I am death’ is not the case. He declared, “Time is the destroyer of the world.
He claims that when J. Robert Oppenheimer conducted the experiments, he was faced with a “dharam sankat (ethical dilemma) and stated that humanity has a history of interpreting religious texts differently.”
He continued by saying that Oppenheimer comes from a Judeo-Christian tradition where God is renowned for annihilating people with fire and floods.
“For a scientist, if he has used this sentence…,” Pattanaik continued. I’ve also seen his video where he repeatedly repeats the phrase “I am death.” ‘I am time’ is very obviously stated. Time is denoted by the word “kaal.” That is what he is saying, but naturally, he becomes aroused because he is witnessing such great death and destruction, and it is clear that he is looking for some sort of spiritual foundation.
Despite being a significant component of Biblical faiths, this act of violently killing human beings has nothing to do with any dharmic schools and is not mentioned in any Sanatan literature, whether they be those of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, or Sikhism.
The subsequent comment from Devdutt Pattanaik was, “I think he was looking for some solace and found this verse very dramatic.”
For those who don’t know, J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” had a strong interest in Hinduism and classical Sanskrit, reading the Gita in its original Sanskrit. He did not become a follower of Hinduism, but he was philosophically in line with it since the Gita enabled him to investigate what he called “the metaphysical aspects and mysteries of the great unknown, which is the source of all knowledge.”
He continued to be influenced by Gita throughout his life, referring to it as “the most beautiful philosophical song in existence” and even going so far as to include it as one of the most significant books of his life since it changed the way he thought.
Despite his familiarity with the Gita, Devdutt Pattanaik and numerous other experts have cast serious doubt on the scientist’s interpretation, claiming that he merely read the verses as he wanted to.
