As the anticipation builds among fans in India for the release of Christopher Nolan's new film, "Oppenheimer," many have been reminded of the renowned nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer's profound reference to the Bhagavad Gita. Oppenheimer frequently quoted from this sacred text, and his words have become synonymous with his achievements.
Oppenheimer's groundbreaking research ultimately led to the creation of the first nuclear bombs. Upon witnessing the successful test of the bomb in the New Mexico desert in 1945, he immediately grasped the magnitude of what he had contributed to. The words from the Gita, "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One… I am become death, the shatterer of worlds," echoed in his mind.
According to Time Magazine, Oppenheimer often read the Gita for personal enjoyment and occasionally shared it with friends. A copy of the sacred text, bound in pink and held together with Scotch tape, held a place in his Princeton study. He even took Sanskrit lessons, making it his eighth language, from Professor Arthur W. Ryder at Berkeley. Oppenheimer particularly cherished the couplet, "Scholarship is less than sense, therefore seek intelligence." Nobel Prize winner Isidor Rabi, who was his colleague, described Oppenheimer as "overeducated" in areas outside the scientific realm due to his interest in Hinduism. Rabi stated that Oppenheimer saw physics clearly within its established boundaries but perceived a greater sense of mystery and novelty at the border of knowledge, which drew him toward a more mystical realm of broad intuition.
A 1948 Time Magazine report recounted Oppenheimer's story and quoted Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell's description of Oppenheimer's demeanor on the momentous day of the bomb's test. "He grew tenser as the last seconds ticked off. He scarcely breathed. He held on to a post to steady himself... When the announcer shouted 'Now!' and there came this tremendous burst of light, followed by the deep-growling roar of the explosion, his face relaxed into an expression of tremendous relief."
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Years later, Oppenheimer continued to grapple with the ethical complexities surrounding the creation of a weapon capable of such immense destruction. The deployment of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki effectively ended World War II. However, witnessing the devastating consequences of something he had helped create only deepened Oppenheimer's concerns. In an obituary published by The New York Times following his death in 1967, fellow physicists shared that Oppenheimer believed the bomb had "mercilessly dramatized the inhumanity and evil of modern war." He expressed that the physicists had come to know "sin" in a crude sense, an awareness they could not escape.
In a news interview after the bombings in Japan, Oppenheimer reflected on the emotions felt in the control room during the test. He recalled, "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince 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.' I suppose we all thought that one way or another."
Oppenheimer made efforts to control atomic energy by leading the Atomic Energy Commission's General Advisory Committee, composed of top nuclear scientists. He also served on the atomic committee of the Research and Development Board to provide guidance to the military.
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