Oppenheimer and the "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" quote http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/05/23/oppenheimer-gita/ … (by @wellerstein )
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Wendy Doniger wonders if the quote was chosen to 'absolve' Western civilization:http://bit.ly/1h3XTHn @avinashtn
@wellerstein@The_Hindus
@longhandnotes @avinashtn @The_Hindus ...which was the prerequisite for him having the analogy at hand. And is the Gita about doomsday?
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The Gita is less about the 'end of the world' than a case made for a 'war to end all wars'. (1/n)
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus -
Besides, doomsday in epic cosmologies with cycical time doesn't have much singularity or finality. (2/n)
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus -
The 'revelation' offered to Arjuna isn't about *the* apocalypse to come,but one routinely underway.(3/n)
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus -
Oppenheimer quotes two verses one of 'shock'(11:32) and another of simple 'awe'(11:12) (4/n)
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus -
Some like P Lal are uneasy about the 'deus ex machina' nature of Chp 11:http://bit.ly/1mfLrl3 (5/n)
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus -
Can one assume that Oppenheimer's stance was of a 'reverential Indophile', not detached Orientalist?6/n
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus -
While we're at it,let's speculate Oppenheimer was Indophile & also knew of Himmler's use of the Gita.7/n
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus -
Then,a possibility is that his use of the Gita was to redeem a beloved text as a 'just war' text. 8/8
@wellerstein @avinashtn@The_Hindus - 1 more reply
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