Dr. Sushil Rudra

09.08.2023 Durgapur, W.Bengal India

Table of Contents: The Holiest Gift “Gita ” Gave New Life to Oppenheimer

Introduction: Film Oppenheimer and Gita , The Roles of the Feature Flim, Writer and Director, Manhattan Project, The Controversial Scene, Now I am Become Death, Gita Gave Shelter to Oppenheimer , Wrong Depiction Of American Flag In ‘Oppenheimer’ Scene Spark Outrage, The Bottom Line

Introduction: Film Oppenheimer and Gita:

” Oppenheimer” is one of the most expected motion pictures of the year and opens in theatres on July 21. As part of promotional interviews of the film, Murphy moreover mentioned that he study the scripture to prepare himself for the role. “I did study the Bhagavad Gita throughout preparation, and I thought it was an truly amazing text, very inspiring. I suppose it was a consolation to him, he kind of needed it…,” he stated during an interview with film.

In the film ” Oppenheimer” Cillian Murphy performed the main role as Oppenheimer and Florence Pugh as Tatlock. In the center of this scene, Tatlock stands up and walks over to Oppenheimer’s bookcase.

Suddenly she took a book from there. Want to know, in what language is it written? Oppenheimer said, Sanskrit. Tatlock opened a specific page and desired to know what was written there.

Oppenheimer refused to explain. And said, line by line. Oppenheimer continued to recite the lines in English translation. I am now death. The Destroyer of the world’. Meanwhile, Tatlock sits down and lies down on Oppenheimer. Mating begins again.

This scene has triggered a lot of controversy. This short scene may additionally be very essential in the film, but many Hindus feel it is insulting to them. Many people have also claimed that the interpretation of the song in this scene is not correct.

Eventually, Censor board of the country is also under attack for now. Many people surprise how the board allowed such a scene . For now, the controversy is over now .

The Role in Feature Flim: The Holiest Gift “Gita ” Gave New Life to Oppenheimer

When Oppenheimer evoked Bhagavad Gita after first atomic test: “Now I am become death”. We see in movie ‘Oppenheimer’ that renowned actor Cillian Murphy of America performed the main character.

Undoubtedly it’s based on American theoretical physicist and scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer is the latest work of British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan. He selected Irish actor Cillian Murphy for featuring as Oppenheimer who has a Bhagavad Gita connection.

In this biographical thriller, Murphy performs the role of theoretical physicist and scientist , J. Robert Oppenheimer. This distinguished scientist of America is credited as the “father of the atomic bomb.”

Writer and Director: The Holiest Gift “Gita ” Gave New Life to Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan (Universal Pictures by means of AP) has written and directed this film ” . Oppenheimer was a genius scientist in America in the first half of twentieth Century. His works and studies was mainly in Quantum Physics, although he was interested in all subjects.

Manhattan Project

However, he served as director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in the United States during World War II. It is famous by the name ‘Manhattan Project’which aimed at harnessing nuclear power in 1942.

After multiple studies and experiments, the assignment led to the test of the world’s first atomic bomb in 1945. Its code-name is ‘Trinity. They preferred Trinity site in the New Mexico desert. And tested it successfully which is marked as the beginning of the atomic age.

One of the the scene of the film has brought on a lot of controversy. This short scene may also be very vital in the film, however many Hindus feel it is insulting to them. Many people have also claimed that the interpretation of the music in this scene is not correct.

Consequently , the Censor board of the country is also under attack for now. Many people surprise how the board allowed such a scene to be shown. For now, the controversy is over.

During 2nd World War , Oppenheimer served as director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in the United States . It worked on the ‘Manhattan Project’ aimed at harnessing nuclear power in 1942.

Gita Gave Shelter to Oppenheimer: The Holiest Gift “Gita ” Gave New Life to Oppenheimer

However, during this test and aftermath’Oppenheimer invoked Bhagavad Gita quote. He is remembered to have been deeply inspired by Hindus philosophical texts, along with the Bhagavad Gita. In the aftermath of the test, Oppenheimer is famously regarded to have invoked a quote from the Hindu religious scripture – “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of world.

In 1965, the documentary ‘The Decision to Drop the Bomb’by NBC was launched. This documentary was featured on Oppenheimer. There they mentioned his instant feelings following the successful conduct of the test, which stays a matter of intense debate and controversy to this date.

“We knew the world would not be the same…few people laughed…few cried…most people have been silent…I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita…Vishnu is making an strive to persuade the prince that he should do his duty. During that moment he used to manifest his multi-armed, and strange-forms to provoke him, and says, now ‘I am emerge as Death, the destroyer of worlds’.”

After all, it has been portrayed in the documentary. Along with that he felt that all humans present at the test site probably thought that.
           
It’s sure that “Oppenheimer” is one of the most controversial films of the years. Although it opens in theatres on July 21. When he participated in interviews during the promotional film, Murphy mentioned that he studied this Hindu scripture to mentally prepare himself for the role. He wrote :

               “I did read the Bhagavad Gita during preparation, and I thought it was an really amazing text, very inspiring. I assume it was a consolation to him, he kind of needed it…” . ( During an interview with Sucharita Tyagi who is a movie critic and YouTuber .

The Bhagvad Gita Did More Than Just Give Oppenheimer A Quote That Outlived Him.
For J. Robert Oppenheimer, the subject of Christopher Nolan’s biopic of the nuclear physicist considered as the ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb.

It’s Bhagavad Gita that was once a spiritual suport of the situation the scientist Oppenheimer had to face. Although his belief has been overshadowed by the scene in the film where he is seen studying out the holy scripture in between having intercourse with his partner Kitty.

Indian author and mythologist Devdutt Pattnaik even wondered about the translation of a seminal verse of the Gita. He read Oppenheimer’s attraction in Gita through the book of historian James Hijiya.

Wrong Depiction Of American Flag In ‘Oppenheimer’ Scene Spark Outrage

Oppenheimer brought up in Newyork in a Jewish family. But he had a deep attraction in Hindu Scriptures. Naturally he flip to the Gita and used to quote from it in many times in different occasions.

        Arthur W. Ryder translated Oppenheimer’s copy of ‘Bhagavad-Gita’.  Patty Templeton , a co-scientist of the America National Security Research Center which is part of the collections at the Bradbury Science Museum in the Los Alamos Laboratory remarked about it.

The nuclear physicist Oppenheimer’s handwritten initials exhibit up in the top right corner of the the the front endpapers. The time-worn book is really one of two of his private objects that the Lab owns, according to Templeton. There’s additionally another thing, that’s his chair he used in workplace.

Luckily Oppenheimer used to study ‘Bhagavad Gita’ in the original Sanskrit. As a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, before his time was at Los Alamos. He sat in on Sanskrit classes with Ryder, who had published an English translation of the Gita. Oppenheimer would present this Gita to his  colleagues and buddies for the rest of his life, Templeton says.

While he had been making ready for Trinity, the first atomic bomb test which carried out at the Lab, Oppenheimer’s thoughts were on its success and the affect of the bomb on his life and on the world.

So, to understand Oppenheimer’s thoughts and philosophy, Templeton quotes from a book is helpful to understand. It’s ” Pieces of the Action”, written by Vannevar Bush, director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, and chairman, National Defence Research Committee. Vannevar Bush stated in his 1970 memoir, ‘Pieces of the Action’:

“I genuinely record a poem, which (Oppenheimer) translated from the Sanskrit, and which he recited to me two nights before (Trinity):
“In battle, in forest, at the precipice in the mountains,
On the dark great sea, in the midst of javelins and arrows,
In sleep, in confusion, in the depths of shame,
The good deeds a man has done before defend him.”

The Bottom Line: The Holiest Gift “Gita ” Gave New Life to Oppenheimer

According to Hijiya, the distinguished historian, Oppenheimer believed, “It was the obligation of the scientists to construct the bomb, but it was the responsibility of the political persons to determine whether or how to use it.

Sources:

Quote by J. Robert Oppenheimer: “In battle, in forest, at the …
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/550991-in-battle-in-forest–
The Bhagvad Gita Did More Than Just Give Oppenheimer …
https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/the-bhagvad-g….