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Oppenheimer's Dilemma

                                        

          The Hollywood movie based on the life of Oppenheimer, father of Atomic Bomb, has created a sort of flirt in the minds of the people, chiefly due to some reference therein to the Bhagavad Gita.  Moviegoers (now of course, movie-watchers since movies are now available on OTT) are naturally to form opinions about the message of Gita on the basis of what has been depicted therein.  In fact, there are certain people who allege that Gita is about warfare. There have been even attempts in USSR and USA seeking ban on Gita on the premise that it is about warfare and violence. In this movie also, Oppenheimer is depicted as somewhat justifying the death and destruction that took place at Hiroshima and Nagasaki following the discovery of Nuclear Bomb by alluding to Gita.  Arjuna, who was arraigned against his own kith and kin in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, did not want to kill his own people, but Lord Krishna was exhorting him to do his prescribed duty and his duty was to fight and kill his opponents since Arjuna belonged to Kshatriya caste (a warrior class). Hence, the opinion that Gita is about warfare and violence simply because the Gita was said in battlefield and the backdrop was warfare or fratricide.

          In my view, the said opinion is formed on the basis of superficial knowledge of Gita and is the result of bias and prejudice. Gita was said to Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra in the backdrop of war but it is not about warfare. The dilemma that Arjuna faced in the battlefield is not the dilemma of Arjuna only; it is the dilemma of common man who is torn apart by conflict and confusion, affection and aversion and the bipolarities of the worldly existence. Gita is relevant not only to Arjuna but to the common man in the society who too wages a battle of life and death and is encountered with warlike situation. Gita teaches him to rise above these polarities and to perform his prescribed duty without affection and aversion and without seeking the fruits thereof.  Hence, message of Gita is relevant to all people of all ages.

But, the message of Gita is not confined only as to how the worldly duties should be performed, as some people think that Gita is all about Karma or Karma Yoga. It is far more profound and sublime.  Gita is the core of Hindu (Vedanta) philosophy. It is an inquiry into the nature of man; it is an inquiry into the nature of God; it is an inquiry of Universe and the relation of man with the Universe and the God. “It is an Upanishad that is sung by the Lord; it is the science of Brahman; it is the scripture of Yoga as part of the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna...” So is given at the end of every Chapter of Gita that contains 18 Chapters.

          Gita is an Upanishad. It is the core Vedanta philosophy. Vedanta means “end of Vedas”(Shruti) upon which the entire superstructure of Hindu philosophy is based. There are  108 Upanishads out of which 11 are basic, which along with Brahmsutra of Ved Vyasa (his commentary on Vedas) forms core of the Vedantic philosophy whereas Puranas are an afterthought written by rishis (spiritual scientists  or poets)  as an extension of Vedas and thus called ‘Smriti.’ These are in the form of story-telling mixed of mythology, history and philosophy; hence they have tremendous appeal to the masses.

 Gita is science of Brahman. It defines Brahman, Ishwara (God) and relation of man with God and Brahman.  The concept of Brahman is different from God.  Brahman is the common substratum of Jiva (creature), Ishwara (God)  and in fact the entire creation and beyond.  Brahman is all pervading and is beyond time and causation. It even surpasses God. The subject matter of Vedanta or Vedic culture is in fact Brahman and not God. That is why it is said that India is a Godless culture. Lord Krishna in Gita identifies Himself at times with Ishwara (God), sometimes with Brahman and sometimes with Jiva.

 The practical lesson of Gita to man consists of four yogas i.e. Karma Yoga, Raj Yoga (Yoga of Psychic control), Jnana Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge) and Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Devotion) along with certain values, practicing which one can go beyond grief and sorrow and attains peace and tranquility. Thus, to say that Gita is about warfare and violence is to do violence against Gita itself.  

Anyhow, was Oppenheimer right in justifying his creation of Atom Bomb that was followed by death and destruction caused by the use of it, by quoting from Gita? When Lord Krishna reveals his Universal form to Arjuna in XIth Chapter Verse 32 and tells Arjuna that he is ‘Kala’ which was interpreted as “Destroyer of the Universe”, he in fact was revealing the core philosophy of life and death.  According to Hindu philosophy, God has basically three chief functions to perform: creation, preservation and destruction. This is remarkable feature of Hindu philosophy as death is considered logical concomitant to life and destruction to that of creation. This cycle of birth and death, creation and destruction -  is endless. If creation is done by God, then by whom the destruction is done?  It is God alone who creates and destroys and creates again to destroy. He is ‘Kala’ (or Kali – Mother form of God) and all are under His sway, that is, the sway of Time (Kala means “Time”). All that has been created by Time will be sucked up by Time unless one has gone beyond Time and become one with Brahman who is beyond Time and Causation. Everything that is compound has to decompose and out of the decomposed components, compound is formed again. This is the law of Nature and Science accepts it (except that God is the Controller.)  Thus, according to Hindu philosophy, God is not only Creator (Brahma); Preserver (Vishnu) but He is also Destroyer (Shiva), although as Brahman, God is beyond creation and destruction; He is beyond good and evil. 

When Lord Krishna says, he is ‘Kala’, he was identifying himself as Ishwara (God) and telling Arjuna that in fact He is the doer. Therefore,  Arjuna  should not consider himself to be the doer and incur the consequences of doership.  God in fact is only the doer.  Arjuna should become an instrument in the hands of God and perform his prescribed duty. And, in this way he would not incur any sin.  This, in fact is Karma Yoga i.e. to become an instrument into the hands of Almighty while performing one’s duty.

 According to Oppenheim, he too was acting as an instrument in the hands of God and he was, therefore, not the cause of destruction. He quotes Verse 17 from Chapter XVIII, which says, “He whose mind is free from the sense of doership, and whose reason is not affected by worldly objects and activities, does not really kill, even having killed all these people, nor does any sin accrues to him.”   But, whether Oppenheimer was really an instrument of God and free from the sense of doership?  Was his reason not affected by worldly objects and activities? Was he performing his duties selflessly, without affection or aversion or without his personal ambitions or national objects?          

          Christopher Nolan’s movie is based on ‘American Prometheus’, which is a biography of Oppenheimer written by Kai Bird and Martin J Shervin. His biography (not the movie) faithfully reveals the moral quandaries that Oppenheimer was facing. The dilemma that Oppenheimer faced was: whether to follow the dictates of his own conscience or the dictates of his Political and Military masters who had an agenda and the agenda was that Allied forces never wanted Nazi Germany to win the race to produce the bomb.

 The dilemma of Arjuna, on the other hand, was that he was arraigned against his own kinsmen in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, to fight a war of righteousness versus unrighteousness. Arjuna did not want the conquest nor the spoils of conquest.  He did not want even the rule over three worlds, what to talk of the small Kingdom that was called Hastinapur at that time.  He instead wanted to lead the life of an ascetic. And if it so happens, let his opponents kill him instead of him killing them. In the midst of this all, however Lord Krishna told him to perform his prescribed duty in this war between righteous and unrighteous forces instead of running away from war.  Krishna told that God is the only doer.  Arjuna should become an instrument in the hands of God and perform his prescribed duty.

 Was Oppenheimer too acting an instrument in the hands of God? The Allied Forces wanted to teach a lesson to Germany, Italy and Japan.  Hence, the bomb was to be created for the sake of hegemony of Allied Forces. Oppenheimer could not stand up against this official justification of creating a deterrent, which was to be experimented on human beings. And nevertheless, it was not a war between righteousness and unrighteousness. Thus, clearly he was acting as an instrument into the hands of his political masters.  The film, therefore, is not a faithful depiction of the biography.  It does not answer the question: why the bomb was used when the war had stopped.  It is in fact a subtle attempt to whitewash the sins committed by the Allied to have upper hand in War and Christopher has made an attempt to hide the massacre of humanity behind a selective reference to Gita, a Hindu scripture.

Article by Satish Kumar Wig