Oppenheimer Bhagavad Gita row: Nitish Bhardwaj says verse ‘should also be understood from scientist’s state of mind’

Actor Nitish Bharadwaj, who played the role of Lord Krishna in BR Chopra’s television serial Mahabharat, has reacted to the controversy over a sex scene in Oppenheimer featuring the Sanskrit scripture Bhagavad Gita. Speaking with ETimes, Nitish spoke about how Gita ‘teaches a sense of duty in the middle of a battlefield’. He also added that the life struggles of humans, ‘mainly emotional are the battlefields’. (Also Read | Oppenheimer’s sex scenes spark controversy, outrage over Bhagava Gita’ link in intimate moment)

Oppenheimer lovemaking scene

In Christopher Nolan’s film, Oppenheimer — played by Cillian Murphy — is shown having sex with psychologist Jean Tatler (Florence Pugh) as she asks him to read a verse from what appears to be a Sanskrit book, whose title or cover is not visible. On Jean’s insistence, a confused Oppenheimer reads out the verse she points at: “Now, I am become Death, destroyer of the world.”

What Nitish said about Gita

Quoting Shloka 11.32, he said that it was told to Arjun ‘to do his duty as a warrior, which is to fight the evil’. Nitish said that Krishna’s ‘entire shloka must be understood properly’. Talking about the shloka, he added that Krishna said he is ‘the eternal time who will kill everything; so everyone will die even if you don’t kill them. So do your duty’.

Nitish spoke about Oppenheimer

Speaking with ETimes, Nitish said, “When Oppenheimer created the atom bomb & it was used to kill most of Japan’s population, he was himself questioning whether he did his duty properly! His famous interview showed him in tears, which means that he had probably regretted his own invention. He probably saw that his invention will destroy the human race in future & he was probably remorseful. The use of this verse in the film should also be understood from Oppenheimer’s emotional state of mind. A scientist thinks of his creation 24x7x365 days, irrespective of what he is doing. His mind space is consumed fully of his creation & the physical act is just a natural mechanical act.”

He also added, “I appeal to people to think of this emotional aspect of Oppenheimer’s important moments of life. Isn’t he proved correct that now we see all the explosive technologies killing our own race – for human greed of territorial & commercial superiority, without any sense of larger duty as an individual or a nation or a planet…The UN must enforce nuclear disarmament seriously. Nolan’s message is loud & clear!”

Robert Oppenheimer was influenced by Bhagavad Gita

J Robert Oppenheimer, regarded as ‘the father of the atom bomb’, had learnt Sanskrit and was said to be influenced by the Bhagavad Gita. In an interview, the physicist had recalled that the only thought which came to his mind after he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, was a verse from the ancient Hindu text — “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of world.”

(with PTI inputs)