Oppenheimer's 'Destroyer Of Worlds' Quote Explained
J. Robert Oppenheimer may be one of the most important scientists in history, but the man was interested in more than theoretical physics and mathematical equations. He was also fascinated by things like horseback riding, womanizing, smoking, politics ... and mythology.
In a spine-chilling recording, Oppenheimer himself famously cited an ancient myth in reference to the Trinity Test (the testing of the first atom bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico), saying, "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent." After this, he pensively goes all the way back to ancient Hindu mythology, saying, "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."
In Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," the same quote appears a couple of different times. First, we see it when Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) initially encounters Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), and the two get busy right away. Part-way through the ensuing sex scene, Tatlock awkwardly stops mid-intercourse to go grab a book off of the shelf and force her confused lover to translate a line of cryptic poetry. Which line, you ask? Why the destroyer of worlds one, of course. Later on, Oppie repeats the line while he's watching the Trinity Test go off in real time.
The words are clearly applicable in the context of an atomic explosion. But what is the book it comes from, and how does it apply to its original context? At the risk of oversimplifying a very complex story, let's explore a bit, shall we?
The Destroyer of worlds quote comes from the Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita (or "Gita" for short) is ancient Sanskrit for "Song of God." The story is snuggly ensconced in the middle of a larger poem called the Mahabharata. In the Gita, one of the epic's primary heroes, Prince Arjuna, has a conversation with Krishna, an incarnated iteration of the god Vishnu.
Arjuna is struggling with the ethical consequences of a war brewing within his family. In the conversation with Krishna (who, in that form, functions as the Prince's charioteer), the god-incarnate convinces Arjuna that his job is to fight. The entire episode is dripping with ethical, moral, and philosophical quandaries.
For our purposes, though, the big moment comes when Arjuna asks his immortal companion to show his true self. This leads to a catastrophic multi-armed revelation that is as cataclysmic as, well, an atomic bomb. Arjuna ends up begging Krishna to end the carnage, leaving us with some serious parallels to draw between the ancient hero and his 20th-century counterpart.
Along with the specific "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" quote, the entire story arc of Arjuna and Krishna closely follows that of Oppenheimer and his science — in a meta sort of way. Oppie is inordinately close to his science until it turns on him and reveals its incredible power. The scientist's ongoing struggles with the ethical qualms associated with his work also mirror that of Arjuna's pre-battle hesitations, and his prominent role in combatting the use of atomic weapons after World War II also lines up with Arjuna's role in stopping Vishnu's destructive form.
India, Oppenheimer, and myths
The connection to the Gita is fascinating for Western audiences — and most global viewers, for that matter. But it did stir up anger in one area of the world: India. Despite the film's relative success in certain areas of the nation, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party censured the movie. Many considered the casual inclusion of sacred Hindu scripts mid-coitus a distributing attack on their beliefs, an interpretation that is difficult to see Nolan and company predicting when they penned the scene.
As far as Oppenheimer is concerned, the man's mind clearly waxed eloquent in the face of ultimate power. For instance, he also wrote about the Trinity Test experience by referring to the legendary Prometheus, who gave men fire and was afterward punished by Zeus by being nailed to a mountain where an eagle perpetually ate his immortal liver. The myth is a perfect balance of awe-inspiring power and horrifying consequences. It even inspired the name of the autobiography of the scientists, which served as Christopher Nolan's template for the film: "American Prometheus."
While not a myth, there's another historical comparison worth noting here. Oppie was also known for briefly referencing Alfred Nobel, who was the creator of the Nobel Prize ...and the inventor of dynamite several decades before the Trinity Test. The atomic scientist compared his own experience to Nobel's fruitless hope that the then-catastrophic power of dynamite might end wars. In the end, though, it just became another tool in the hands of mischievous mankind.
Whether it was a Hindu apocalypse, Greek horror, or American industrialism, Oppenheimer knew his historical facts and mythological fiction well. He alluded to it at the most opportune moments, too, connecting his own activities to some of the most epic and tragic parallels in the entire human experience.