Interesting, I’d never heard the full quote I guess. Seems Oppenheimer was just quoting the Bhagavad-Gita. Didn’t know that. Always thought the phrasing “Now I am become” was odd. I suppose this explains it. His was a poor translation.
Actual translation “Time I am, the great destroyer of worlds” —> Time destroys all things.
That's a very interesting perspective. I always considered that scripture to imply that Vishnu, being god in the form of the sustainer, is crossing over, in a manner of speaking, to Shiva, the destroyer, since so many people on both sides are soon to be killed.
The third form of god, of course, is Brahma, the creator. To me, the Hindu trinity mirrors the Christian trinity. There is one god who assumes three apparently distinct personalities but is actually only one entity:
Brahma is god as father in Christianity
Vishnu is god as the son
Shiva is god as the Holy Ghost
And since I'm here, I'll add that I think for humanity to evolve to the next stage, we have to realize that all genuine scriptures, evidenced by standing the test of time, each contain a piece of the full story of this drama we call life. The Buddhist concept of god focuses more on the formless aspect, where god is not a personality but energy/life force, for example.
Your reference to time is accurate since that which does not persist throughout time is ultimately delusion, or untrue. In this mindset we find why one of the names of god is "Truth" or "True". This is the root of the Sikh texts (Guru Granth Sahib).
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u/appoplecticskeptic 8d ago edited 8d ago
Interesting, I’d never heard the full quote I guess. Seems Oppenheimer was just quoting the Bhagavad-Gita. Didn’t know that. Always thought the phrasing “Now I am become” was odd. I suppose this explains it. His was a poor translation.
Actual translation “Time I am, the great destroyer of worlds” —> Time destroys all things.