From Sanskrit: “Song of the Blessed One”
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One more point concerns Oppenheimer’s recollection that upon witnessing the fireball produced by the Trinity test, he immediately thought of a line from the Sanskrit Bhagavad-Gita: “I am become death, destroyer of worlds.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2023
He referred to a Sanskrit morality tale when he quoted from the Bhagavad-Gita holy text: "I am become death, destroyer of worlds."
From US News ● Aug. 5, 2015
A lawmaker was sworn in on a Koran for the first time in 2007, and last year the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita was used for the first time, bringing the total to nine options for House lawmakers.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 5, 2015
He talks about the way that he makes it a practice after he opens his eyes in the morning, but before his feet hit the floor, of reading from the Bhagavad-Gita.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2013
Oppenheimer thought of a line from the ancient Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita, a dramatic moment in which the god Vishnu declares: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
Then we can make more Oppenheimer comparisons when he winds up pacing the frontiers, wringing his hands and muttering the Bhagavad Gita about what he’s unleashed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
The Congress government tried again in 2018, expanding the proposal to cover other sacred texts, including the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran and the Bible.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
J. Robert Oppenheimer, the chief scientist, famously recalled the passage of the Bhagavad Gita, “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2025
She still finds beauty in certain religious texts, including the Bhagavad Gita — although not the translations by the Hare Krishna movement’s founder.
From New York Times ● May 22, 2024
Oppenheimer’s recollection of his own reaction has been oft repeated; he claimed that a verse from the Sanskrit Bhagavad Gita leaped into his mind: “ ‘Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds.’
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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