Keith Sanborn via Nettime-tmp on Sun, 30 Jul 2023 17:36:08 +0200 (CEST)


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Re: <nettime> destroyer of worlds


It does explain a lot. However it positions Oppenheimer as the divine, ie, Krishna, instead of Arjuna. That may be the most telling transposition of all, though I suppose one cd argue that speaking Krishna’s text does not imply taking on that role. Either way: I am god or I am not responsible because it is my role in the universe to act as a warrior and the divine determines all, is a bit problematic, though understandable in the immediate context of Nazi Germany also developing the bomb. Each side playing god. Ahriman vs Ahura Mazda may be the more appropriate reference. 

On Jul 30, 2023, at 11:25 AM, Keith Sanborn <mrzero@panix.com> wrote:


Thanks that makes a huge amount of sense. 

On Jul 30, 2023, at 11:22 AM, Jon Lebkowsky <jonl@weblogsky.com> wrote:


"In Hinduism, which has a non-linear concept of time, the great god is involved in not only the creation, but also the dissolution. In verse 32, Krishna says the famous line. In it 'death' literally translates as 'world-destroying time,' says Thompson, adding that Oppenheimer’s Sanskrit teacher chose to translate 'world-destroying time' as 'death,' a common interpretation. Its meaning is simple: Irrespective of what Arjuna does, everything is in the hands of the divine."


I figure time and death are both manifestations of impermanence.

On Sun, Jul 30, 2023 at 10:03 AM Keith Sanborn <mrzero@panix.com> wrote:
Is it possible to mistake the meaning of the  Sanskrit word in the original? To state the obvious: O’s version wd seem to be an unconscious transformation of the meaning based on what he was observing. 

On Jul 30, 2023, at 10:06 AM, Jon Lebkowsky via Nettime-tmp <nettime-tmp@mail.ljudmila.org> wrote:


I can see where "time" and "death" could both work, if you look from a Buddhist perspective of emptiness/impermanence.

On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 6:26 AM David Garcia via Nettime-tmp <nettime-tmp@mail.ljudmila.org> wrote:
Amidst all the current Oppenheimer hype, I appreciated Zia Haider
Rahman, the author of *In the Light of What We Know* - ' who in a recent
tweet declared:

"I hate Oppenheimer a teeny tiny little bit for his knowingly bastard
translation of the B Gita (he was a Sanskritist). An accurate
translation would be "I am become Time, destroyer of worlds" so much
better, quite profound really"

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Jon Lebkowsky (@jonl)
Cofounder and Cohost, Plutopia News Network
#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
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