There's a common misconception that after seeing atomic bombs tested, Robert Oppenheimer quoted the following passage from a Hindu epic poem, the Bhagavad Gita:
Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.
Does he ever say this in the movie?
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6He didn’t necessarily say it, but according to Oppenheimer himself, he thought it: atomicarchive.com/media/videos/oppenheimer.html– Todd WilcoxCommented Apr 27 at 2:50
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1@ToddWilcox I don't really understand what you and the OP are saying. In that video, isn't that him quoting the line from the poem, not just thinking about it? The OP said it's a misconception that he quoted the poem, but in the video, he says the line word for word.– Cave JohnsonCommented Apr 27 at 15:53
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4@CaveJohnson the video is him saying, long after the tests, that he was thinking the line at the time the bomb was tested. The misconception is that he said the line when the bombs were tested.– mbrigCommented Apr 27 at 19:13
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1 Answer
In the script and the movie1, he says so. From the script, pages 27-28:
She pulls a book from the shelf: THE BHAGAVAD GITA. She opens the book to find INCOMPREHENSIBLE CHARACTERS.
TATLOCK: What's this?
OPPENHEIMER: Sanskrit.
TATLOCK: You can read this?
OPPENHEIMER: I'm learning (She climbs on top of me, opens the book in my face).
TATLOCK: Go on then.
OPPENHEIMER: In this part, Vishnu reveals his multi-armed self
TATLOCK: Read the words.
OPPENHEIMER: 'And now I am become Death...destroyer of worlds.'
1. according to this archive, he thought it but didn't say it loud.
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. 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.
The first 25 seconds of this video show Oppenheimer quoting the book:
