When Cillian Murphy spoke about reading the Bhagavad Gita to prepare for Oppenheimer

Cillian Murphy’s recent release Oppenheimer is currently running in theatres worldwide. The film has already achieved several milestones at the box office  and emerged as one of the most successful Hollywood films in India. Amid its successful run, the Christopher Nolan directorial received backlash over using a verse from ancient Sanskrit scripture, Bhagavad Gita during a sex scene. 

2 things you need to know 

• Oppenheimer debuted in theatres on July 21. 
• The film is a biopic of American physicist Robert J Oppenheimer.

Cillian Murphy finds Bhagavad Gita ‘beautiful and inspiring'

In a conversation with IANS, Cillian was asked about his prepping for the role of Oppenheimer.  He revealed that he read  the Bhagavad Gita and was inspired by it. He stated, “I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation, and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text, very inspiring. I think it was a consolation to him (Oppenheimer), he kind of needed it and it provided him a lot of consolation, all his life.” 

(Cillian Murphy as Robert J Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer | Image: Still from the movie)

Throughout the course of his life, particularly during the nuclear tests, Oppenheimer found inspiration in the classical Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita. He looked to it  for many answers that helped shape his entire philosophy of life itself. This was especially true when faced with the enormity of his creation and the devastation it could unleash. At that point,  the physicist cited the law of dharma or sacred duty from the Bhagavad Gita.

Oppenheimer quoted Bhagavad Gita after Trinity Test

Oppenheimer once confessed that he thought about a verse from the scared text after the detonation of the first nuclear bomb during the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945. He said in the 1965 NBC News documentary The Decision to Drop the Bomb, “ I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multiarmed form and says, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”