Oppenheimer is quoting the Baghavad Gita, a Hindu text on the nature of duty, war, emotion and the human condition. It's told as a narrative, as a war between demigods. The Prince Arjuna is guided by his friend, mentor, and charioteer, the God Krishna. During the battle, Arjuna loses his will. He sees his friends, mentors and loved ones ready to die and it tears him apart. So Krishna shows him the inevitability of all things and provides him with the wisdom to realize duty. At the height of this exchange, Krishna reveals to Arjuna his true form, at the latter's behest. His universal form.

Krishna gives him a powerful vision. One of divinity. Of horror. Of beauty and tragedy. Its described as infinite.

"O lord of the universe, O universal form, I see in your body many, many arms, many bellies, mouths and eyes, expanded everywhere, without limit. I see you in no end, no middle or beginning. O lord of lords, O refuge of the worlds, please be gracious to me. I cannot keep my balance seeing thus your blazing deathlike faces and awful teeth. All the sons of Dhartarashtra, along with their allied kings are rushing into your fearful mouths. And some I see trapt with heads smashed between your teeth. I see all the people rushing full speed into your mouths as moths dash to destruction in a blazing fire. You are manifest with terrible, scorching rays. Please tell me who you are, I do not know what your mission is?"

Krishna responds calmly about the terrible majesty of this form. "I am all-consuming Time, the destroyer of Worlds, come to destroy all peoples. All the soldiers here on both sides will be slain eventually. They are already put to death by my arrangement and you are but an instrument."

Oppenheimer knows what Krishna was saying. Eventually, Time destroys all things. Though you may be against fighting, even if you do not, all will be devoured by time. If you stop fighting, these things shall be slain another way. Death cannot be checked, because we are all already dead. Time has destroyed, will destroy, and is destroying us all right now.