Oppenheimer: Is Christopher Nolan's film influenced by the Bhagavad Gita? Here's what we know
By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 13, 2023, 12:29 PM ISTThe man who invented the atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, studied the Bhagavad Gita extensively and was influenced by its teachings. Cillian Murphy, who plays Oppenheimer, brings his narrative to life in the film.
Those who have seen Oppenheimer have described it as "intense" and a "masterpiece." On July 21, this Christopher Nolan picture will be released in theatres worldwide. While the film was being lauded for Nolan's great filmmaking and Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.'s performances, an intriguing Bhagavad Gita link emerged.
The lessons of the Bhagavad Gita impacted physicist Oppenheimer, who reputedly kept a copy of it beside his bedside. In reality, he learnt Sanskrit in 1933 to read the book in its original text. The physicist called the Gita “the most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue.” He listed the Bhagavad Gita among the ten books that most shaped his life.'
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James A Hijiya, Professor of History, in his book 'The Gita of J. Robert Oppenheimer' likens Oppenheimer to Arjuna in the Mahabharata. He wrote in the book, "Krishna's message to Arjuna is clear: you must fight. To Oppenheimer, the message would have seemed equally clear. If it was proper for Arjuna to kill his own friends and relatives in a squabble over the inheritance of a kingdom, then how could it be wrong for Oppenheimer to build a weapon to kill Germans and Japanese whose governments were trying to conquer the world."
Oppenheimer saw that the atomic bomb was required to fight the Nazis, but he also recognised that it was a terrible weapon that could kill humanity. When the first successful atomic bomb test, known as the Trinity Test, took place in Mexico on July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer invoked the Bhagavad Gita. "Now I am Death, the destroyer of worlds," he said. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says these words to Arjuna.
Watch Oppenheimer trailer:
Christopher Nolan on Oppenheimer:
Christopher Nolan told Reuters, "Oppenheimer’s story is one of the most dramatic that I know of and there are many aspects to what makes it so compelling. I just thought to take the audience there, to be there in that room with these people as they had to make these horrifying decisions that have defined the world we now live inâ€æ; what a remarkable dramatic event to bring the audience to.”
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Christopher Nolan noted in an interview on how the crowd reacted to Oppenheimer, "Some people leave the movie absolutely devastated." They are mute. I mean, there's an element of terror in both the past and the roots. But my affection for the people and the connections is as strong as it has ever been."
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