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Arguably, no single event has changed the course of human history so much as the invention of the atomic bomb. This horrifying moment showed just how much destructive power the human mind was capable of creating, and it changed global politics, warfare, and our conceptions of humanity forever.
The first-ever detonation of a nuclear device, codenamed “Trinity” as a part of the Manhattan Project, was definitely a momentous occasion that rocked everyone present to their cores. However, for J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man commonly known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” the explosion brought to mind a certain quote from the Hindu canon, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Years after the Trinity experiment, Oppenheimer told interviewers that this particular part of Hindu scripture popped into his head as he watched the blinding explosion out in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico.
With its obvious themes of death and destruction, the quote already seems like a natural fit for the occasion. But there’s actually a lot more context that gives us some insight into Oppenheimer’s motivations for creating this weapon of incredible destructive power.
The Trinity Nuclear Test
The road to the creation of the first nuclear bomb arose from the fear that Nazi Germany had a nuclear weapon in the works. Scientists fleeing the Nazi regime stoked these fears by relaying to the United States and Great Britain that the Nazis would be capable of developing nuclear weapons if given enough time.
As a result, the Allied powers were determined to beat Germany to the punch by developing a nuclear bomb of their own. In the United States, research into nuclear weapons ramped up in 1941 when President Roosevelt created the Office of Scientific Research and Development with Executive Order 8807. Four years later, the United States had a functional nuclear weapon.
“Trinity” was the codename used for the first-ever detonation of a nuclear device in the Jornada del Muerto desert of New Mexico on July 16, 1945. Jornada del Muerto roughly translates from Spanish as “journey of the dead man,” a chilling coincidence.
Having successfully created an implosion-design plutonium device (the same kind of bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki) nicknamed “The Gadget” at the Los Alamos Laboratory, 425 people gathered in the New Mexico desert to watch the device be tested for the first time.
As J. Robert Oppenheimer recounted in his interview, the people present had very different reactions. “A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.” Oppenheimer, who was the lead scientist at the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II, said that seeing the explosion brought to mind a very specific passage from the Bhagavad Gita, a passage that reveals quite a bit about Oppenheimer’s motivations in creating the bomb.
The Bhagavad Gita
Originally written in Sanskrit, the Bhagavad Gita is an essential part of the Hindu canon that spans 700 verses and contains many interesting stories. The central narrative, however, follows the journey of a great warrior prince named Arjuna, who is led around by his charioteer, Lord Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism. While Lord Krishna is the one driving Arjuna around, Vishnu is really the one in control, giving Arjuna divine instructions to guide him on his journey.
In the verse Oppenheimer famously quoted, Arjuna is presented with a conflict. He faces an opposing army filled with his friends and family, and he is torn between fulfilling his duty as a soldier and being loyal to the people close to him.
Seeking Krishna’s advice, Arjuna asks his charioteer to reveal his universal form. At that point, Krishna manifests himself as a terrifying, divine being with many mouths and many eyes and instructs Arjuna that he has a higher duty to carry out the will of the divine. “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” is a way of acknowledging that Arjuna must put aside his personal preoccupations and carry out his duty as a warrior.
Regardless of what Arjuna should choose to do, the will of the divine will be carried out either way. If Lord Krishna wants the opposing army to die, they will die. For the sake of Arjuna’s own soul, it is better that he detach himself from the physical world and devote himself entirely to the will of the divine. If this means killing his friends and family, then that is the way it must be.
Oppenheimer and Arjuna
While Oppenheimer was never a devout Hindu, he did use the philosophy to guide many aspects of his life, and he is known to have studied the Hindu canon in great depth. Given this, it’s probably safe to say that Oppenheimer understood the original context of the quote and was comparing his situation as a scientist in the Manhattan Project with Arjuna’s situation as a soldier in a war.
The idea of dharma, or holy duty, is certainly something that many of the scientists present at the Trinity nuclear test may have felt. Like Arjuna, it’s easy to see how they may have felt conflicted. Creating such a horrifyingly deadly weapon and then allowing that weapon to be released into the world is certainly nothing to be taken lightly. The potential for such a weapon to be misused was undoubtedly great.
However, it’s also easy to see how these scientists may have felt a sense of duty in creating the nuclear bomb. Indeed, no war in history has ever felt so much like a dualistic battle between good and evil as World War II. While many of these scientists surely felt uneasy about creating such a terrifying weapon, there was also probably a sense that creating the nuclear bomb was something that had to be done to defeat the pure evil that was the Nazi regime.
I believe this is what Oppenheimer was getting at when he brought up the quote, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Regardless of whether or not you believe that the atomic bombs should have been dropped in World War II, we all must acknowledge that it was a time of extremely difficult decisions that forced the world to compromise on its morals and take extremely drastic measures.
Surely, the decision for J. Robert Oppenheimer to sign off on the creation of a nuclear weapon was anything but easy. However, it seems that Hinduism and the story of Arjuna, in particular, helped Oppenheimer justify his role in the creation of the world’s most destructive weapon.
Oppenheimer (2023)
Whether or not you agree with Oppenheimer’s decisions, you have to admit that he was an extremely interesting and multifaceted historical figure. So, it’s no surprise that Hollywood has decided to make a movie about his life and works, a movie that’s set to be released on July 21, 2023.
Oppenheimer is based on the 2005 biographical novel American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. The film is directed by Christopher Nolan and will star Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer himself. The rest of the cast is basically a who’s-who of Hollywood, including names like Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Rami Malek. If you’re interested in the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer or you just enjoy good movies, then you’ll definitely want to catch Oppenheimer when it hits theatres in July 2023.
