A famous (partial) quote from almost six decades ago, from the Bhagavad Gita. I’m just wondering about the context in the original. I seem to recall it had to do with the speaker’s changing forms.
I did find this excellent text online, but I’m having a little trouble reading it:
Completely going off the top of my head Earl, but doesn’t the Bhagavad Gita concern Prince Arjuna, about to enter into battle, having a conversation with his chariot driver, who turns out to be the many manifestations of Hindu Gods? And one of those god-forms is Shiva, the Destroyer, just another manifestation is Vishnu, the Preserver? I think a part of Hindu spiritual teaching is that the most powerful gods have the capability to destroy, create and preserve our reality…
“Every act of creation is an act of destruction” - the inherent duality of life and all that…
WordMan, I’m totally talking off the top of my head, too, but said chariot-driver is Lord Krishna, who is an incarnation of Vishnu the Preserver. He does have a conversation with Prince Arjuna which became the Bhagavad Gita. Although as far as I know, Shiva and Vishnu are separate, and not manifestations of one god.
The quote, “I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” has been attributed to Robert Oppenheimer as he witnessed the first atomic bomb test, and he certainly took it from the Hindu scripture, having learnt Sanskrit so he could read it in the original(!)
If any man deserves that title, though, it was Edward Teller – not J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Haribol Prabhu! My advice is to ask someone who is qualified, someone of the Vaisnava order, a Hare Krsna devotee. Try these wonderful sites.
iskcon.org
krishna.avatara.org
The Gita is a splendid read, however, you need one that is qualified, a sannyasi or a devotee of many years to teach you the Gita, not some layperson.
Sri Radha Govindha Prema Sada Jahni basa...The closest I can find is in Canto XI of said Bhagavad Gita:
As noted, these lines are spoken by Krishna in his conversation with Arjuna as he urges him on to battle. A slightly different translation of the same passage is offered here: http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCINDIA/GITA11.HTM
I’m not sure what the phrase is in the original Sanskrit, but it seems that it can be translated as “Time, destroyer of the three worlds” or “Death, the destroyer of [all] the worlds.” In either case, it means that Krishna contains the essence of the entire universe and all of its processes (indeed, he is identical to that essence).
From what I understand about Hinduism, all the gods are but different manifestations of one ultimate reality (which everything belongs to, only we don’t understand that because of Maya). Although their functions are often considered distinct–Brahma creates of the universe, Krishna maintains it, and Shiva destroys it–they (and everything else in the universe) are theoretically one and the same.
Many Hindus give special veneration to a particular god–thus you have sects (not sure if that’s the proper term, but the closest thing I can think of in English) devoted to Vishnu, or Shiva, or Shakti (the goddess). All of these gods can take on multiple forms, including other gods as well as avatars (Krishna being the most famous avatar of Vishnu).
And of course, it is also said by Remo Williams, who is rumoured to be a reincarnation of Shiva, and a master assassin of Sinanju (warning: sound)