Father of nuclear bomb and Sanskrit scripture Bhagavat-Gita

"I have always been curious to know the inspiration behind those brains of key nuclear physicist, working in the 'Manhattan Project' in 1945, resulting in nuclear bomb then code named 'Gadget'.

And here comes a book, from the 'Hindu' scripture 'Bhagavat-Gita', which 'Oppenheimer' quoted before and after the 'Trinity test', many a time.

Hard it is to conclude if the 'Gita' was/is a book inspiring for a decisive fight against enemy or a truce resulting after the war of such a ferocious magnitude.

What an irony, the war referred in this scripture was finally fought with 'Brahmastra', a name in 'Sanskrit', believed to be a nuclear weapon of that time." 

--Author 

(Storyline: J. Robert Oppenheimer/ Nuclear bomb/ Inspiration/ Bhagavat-Gita/ Indology)

July 16th:

Every year this date reminds us about first nuclear detonation, code named 'Trinity' (assigned by Oppenheimer), tested successfully in 1945 on the culmination of 'Manhattan Project' which later used against humans in shorter than a month time, i.e. 6th August 1945 on Hiroshima, killing 126,000 civilians instantly.

It is recorded that more than 130,000 strong human force were employed in this Nuclear weapon research project, secretly conducted at various sites in US, Canada and UK, in the World War II years ranging from 1942 to 1946.

What an irony:

1. The German chemists were the pioneer scientist namely Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovering Nuclear fission which theoretically explained by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch. 

But it was the party opposite to use this technology to win and end the second world war lastly.

2. Those who were involved in the Project may not be knowing the full impact of destruction it was going to cause and whole concept of war and peace was going to change there on.

3. It is said that two days before the 'Trinity' test, Oppenheimer expressed his hope and fear by citing a quote from the Hindu scripture Bhagavat-Gita, as: "In battle, In the 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."

4. Later in 2016 US President Barack Obama was in Hiroshima, recalled; "Death fell from the sky and the world was changed" where 80,000 lives were lost instantly on 9th August 1945 as the second Nuclear bomb was dropped over Japan.

That reminds the warning wordings of then President Truman saying, "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth."

Julius Robert Oppenheimer: (Physicist and Professor at the University of California Berkeley)
Oppie, as his friends called him, the war time head of the Los Alamos laboratory, was among many who worked in the 'Manhattan Project', he is the one credited as the 'Father of the Atomic bomb.'

While witnessing the 'Trinity' explosion he thought about a verse from a Hindu scripture Bhagvat Gita (XI, 12): "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one.."

His Gita connection: 

It was way back in 1933, much before the 'Manhattan Project', Oppenheimer, a Jewish by birth, learned Sanskrit from an Indologist, Professor Arthur W. Ryder at Berkeley, read Gita in Sanskrit. Later he recalled that this was the book that shaped his philosophy of life.

Oppenheimer persuaded to quote again for a television broadcast in 1965:
"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita (verse 32 of chapter 11). 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."

Link for text, translated-audio, Oppenheimer's video:
http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-11-30.html

'Bhagvat-Gita' scripture showing page with a verse 11-30, with an English translation by Oppenheimer, which is being quoted more often.

Life after: 

As quoted by author Robert Monk in his book, Oppenheimer reportedly told the then President Truman on October 25, 1945: "Mr.President, I feel I have blood on my hands."

Such was the sorrow !

it enveloped everyone !! 

even those who created it !!!

*A related article by the author:

Hiroshima, Nagasaki in ethical perspective of nuclear bomb creator