# A thousand burning suns **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549 "2005-03-02T03:42:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/1 "2005-03-02T03:42:10Z")
“\ hate(s) \ with the passion of a thousand burning suns.” I’ve heard this many times, and I have no idea where this phrase originated. I’ve done various google/wikiquote/imdb searches to no avail. Can the teeming masses come through and provide its origin before my brain explodes? ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/2 "2005-03-02T04:38:04Z")
From the Bhagavad Gita, ultimately. It’s one of Krishna’s lines: > [@](#): > > If the fire of a thousand suns > Were to burst at once into the sky, > That would be like the splendor of the Mighty One. > I am become Death, > Destroyer of Worlds. This was apparently quoted by Oppenheimer at the first atomic bomb test. Can’t find confirmation that he used these exact words, though. Translations and reports vary. It probably entered pop culture through the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. From the script, where the characters are discussing the attitude of Kathryn (the Shrew in Shakespeare’s original) towards Patrick Verona: > [@](#): > > ``` > MICHAEL > > ``` > > Alright. I talked to her. I got the scoop. > > CAMERON > What did she say? > > MICHAEL > Hates him with the fire of a thousand suns. That’s a direct quote. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/3 "2005-03-02T05:14:20Z")
A previous thread on this question [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247097&highlight=oppenheimer+suns](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247097&highlight=oppenheimer+suns) Yes, Oppenheimer said it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/4 "2005-03-02T05:44:11Z")
Here are the two passages quoted by Oppenheimer from the Bhagavadgita — in Sanskrit. With S. Radhakrishnan’s scholarly translation. _divi suryasahasrasya bhaved yugapad utthita | yadi bhah sadrshi sa syad bhasas tasya mahatmanah ||_ If the light of a thousand suns were to blaze forth all at once in the sky, that might resemble the splendor of that exalted Being. (11:12) _kalo 'smi lokakshayakrt pravrddho lokan samahartum iha pravrttah | rte 'pi tvam na bhavishyanti sarve ye 'vasthitah pratyanikeshu yodhah ||_ Time am I, world-destroying, grown mature, engaged here in subduing the world. Even without thee (thy action), all the warriors standing arrayed in the opposing army shall cease to be. (11:32) Just because I can read Sanskrit. 🙂 In the Hindu devotional style, it has become common to praise your favorite deity “equal in splendor to ten million suns” (_koti surya samaprabha_). I think such devotional verses may be of much later composition than the Bhagavadgita. Call it inflation. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/5 "2005-03-02T08:09:46Z")
I remember an episode of _Cheers_ where Diane (?) was telling Sam that she hated him with the white-hot fury of a thousand suns. _Cheers_ predates 10 things I hate about you AFAIK 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/6 "2005-03-02T08:12:21Z")
Wow. Guess I should have read that other threat before posting that. I remember an episode of Cheers? Crap, I’m getting old. :smack: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/7 "2005-03-02T12:18:31Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Yes, Oppenheimer said it. Though when he said it is somewhat murky - see the first few footnotes to [this paper](http://www.aps-pub.com/proceedings/1442/Hijiya.pdf). (Since that site isn’t letting me in, [here’s the Google cache](http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:P1s_8y6XkIIJ:www.aps-pub.com/proceedings/1442/Hijiya.pdf+gita+robert+oppenheimer&hl=en).) Those who were next to him in the immediate aftermath of the test - Laurence wasn’t one of them - all recalled that his first comments were rather more mundane. The suspicion is that he came up with the better quote afterwards, possibly later that day, possibly later. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/8 "2005-03-02T14:06:03Z")
Both quotes are from chapter 11 of the Gita, but until I went and looked them up, I hadn’t realized they were twenty verses apart. Looking at the Sanskrit text, we see the expression translated as “Mighty One” is really _mahatma_. Just like Gandhi. A compound of _maha_ ‘great’ and _atman_ ‘self, soul’. _Matahman_ literally means ‘magnanimous’, applied to a person like Gandhi, “having a great or noble nature, highly gifted, exceedingly wise,” etc. But applied to God it means “the supreme spirit, the great soul of the universe.” This reflects the Vedanta philosophy that all souls are little versions of the one super Soul. I don’t know who came up with the translation “I am become Death…”, but note that the actual wording in Sanskrit, _kalo 'smi_, really means ‘I am Time’. _Kala_ means ‘time’, not death. The quote wouldn’t seem half so dramatic and heavy-metal impressive if you replace “I am become Death” with the literal meaning “I am Time.” ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/9 "2005-03-02T15:37:40Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > The quote wouldn’t seem half so dramatic and heavy-metal impressive if you replace “I am become Death” with the literal meaning “I am Time.” Party pooper! 🙂 I’ll let _you_ tell that to Animal Mother! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/10 "2005-03-02T16:54:36Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I don’t know who came up with the translation “I am become Death…”, but note that the actual wording in Sanskrit, _kalo 'smi_, really means ‘I am Time’. _Kala_ means ‘time’, not death. The quote wouldn’t seem half so dramatic and heavy-metal impressive if you replace “I am become Death” with the literal meaning “I am Time.” Supposedly Oppie had learned Sanskrit and that was his own very liberal translation. But then, again, you’d expect as much from Oppie.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/11 "2005-03-02T18:07:23Z")
Animal Mother? Is that a Mötlëÿ Crüë reference? PS. Sorry I misspelled “Mahatman” as “Matahman”. What’s the matah, man? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/12 "2005-03-02T18:36:55Z")
No, it was on the helmet of Adam Baldwin’s character in _Full Metal Jacket_. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thousand-burning-suns/292549/13 "2005-03-03T00:53:39Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > Supposedly Oppie had learned Sanskrit and that was his own very liberal translation. But then, again, you’d expect as much from Oppie.😃 He certainly claimed, and plausibly at that, to have read the Bhagavadgita in the original. There’s a letter from him to his brother Frank, dated 7th October 1933 (reprinted in _Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections_ (Harvard, 1980) ed. by Smith and Weiner) where he states that he’s been reading it with Arthur Ryder, the professor of Sanskrit at Berkeley, and two others. His description is that “It is very easy and quite marvellous.” But, as you say, you’d expect that of him.