# Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna Quote **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bhagavad-gita-krishna-quote/307185 "2005-06-06T19:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bhagavad-gita-krishna-quote/307185/1 "2005-06-06T19:06:38Z")
The famously missquoted line from Bhagavad-Gita > [@Robert Oppenheimer](#): > > “…now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds…” I have done some web based research with no certain result What was Oppenheimer’s actual quotation? And what is the best English translation of the relivant lines of the Bhagavad\_Gita? I’ve seen I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds I am become Time, the destroyer of worlds I am become Death, the shatterer of worlds I am become Time, the shatterer of worlds also what is the meaning of "worlds’ in the context of Bhagavad-Gita? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bhagavad-gita-krishna-quote/307185/2 "2005-06-06T19:33:50Z")
As for context, try [here.](http://www.masterworksinternational.com/polarity/polarch/polafeb02.htm) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bhagavad-gita-krishna-quote/307185/3 "2005-06-06T19:40:38Z")
The exact quote from the Bhagavad-Gita is: _If the radiance 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, The shatterer of Worlds._ ---
**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:** [June 6, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bhagavad-gita-krishna-quote/307185/4 "2005-06-06T20:20:40Z")
Here ya go: > **[A thousand burning suns](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=304933)** > > “ 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... When **Johanna** speaks of linguistics, take heed. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bhagavad-gita-krishna-quote/307185/5 "2005-06-06T21:11:15Z")
And in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=213493) there’s a little bit of history on the evolution of the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bhagavad-gita-krishna-quote/307185/6 "2005-06-06T21:35:38Z")
> [@Johanna from the other thread](#): > > 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. Is the answer I was looking for, great one **Johanna**.