Sunday 8 June 2014

Bhagavad Gita and the first atomic explosion

On 16th July, 1945, in a desert in Alamogordo in the state of New Mexico, U.S.A. the first atomic explosion in the world took place at 5.45 a.m. which changed the world.The Director of the Manhattan Project, which manufactured the atomic bomb, was Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the top physicists in the world, who is also regarded as 'the father of the atomic bomb'.

Dr. Oppenheimer, apart from being a great scientist, was also a great lover of Sanskrit. He had studied a vast number of Sanskrit books in original, including the Bhagavad Gita ( which is part of the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata).

When the massive nuclear blast whose blazing light covered most of the sky took place, the following words in Chapter 11 shloka 12 came out spontaneously from Dr. Oppenheimer's lips :

"Divi surya sahastrasya bhaved yugapad utthita
Yadi bhah sadrashi sa syat bhasastasya mahatmanah"


which means :


" If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once in the sky, that would be the splendour of the mighty One".


That shloka is in the Chapter where Lord Krishna reveals his massive divine form to Arjuna.


On seeing this form Arjuna was terrified, and asks : " Tell me, who are you ?".


Lord Krishna replies :


" Kaalo asmi loka kshaya kritpraviddho" ( Chapter 11 shloka 32).


which means :


"I am Death, the destroyer of worlds".


Much later, in a television interview in 1965 ( which can be seen on Youtube), Dr. Oppenheimer said "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed (immediately after the nuclear explosion), 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 (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".

14 comments:

  1. Only if American administrators had read Geeta..

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  2. What a coincidence... I am reading it when I started watching Mahabharat(The old one by BR Chopra) just a week ago.
    I am glad to be part of Bharat

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. The beauty of epics

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Sir, I strongly believe that the India can only be reformed by the Strength of the Legacy of India's AncientWisdom

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  7. Sir, I strongly believe that the India can only be reformed by the Strength of the Legacy of India's AncientWisdom

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  8. "We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed (immediately after the nuclear explosion), 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 (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".

    Above words also appear in lyrics of the song in very popular album of LinkinPark, The Thousand Suns..!!

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  9. ताकत के साथ जिम्‍मेदारी आती ही है।

    काश कि हम भी गीता को इसी प्रकार आत्‍मसात कर पाएं कि हमारे हर काम में उससे मार्गदर्शन मिलता रहे।


    इस शानदार लेख लिए हृदय से आभार।

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  10. I don't think any other book has so many different interpretations.Anything and everything that happens in this world is connected to this great book.

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  11. G R Vora... Mumbai.15 June 2014 at 08:57

    If only Man studies and applies his mind on the wisdom given in the great Shree Bhagvad Geeta and other scriptures, the world would have been a better place. :-)

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  12. I think the atomic blast took place at 05:29:45 AM and not 05:45 AM on 16th July 1945.

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