Linkin Park is my favorite nu-metal band. They
started their career in 1998 with their first studio album Hybrid theory. Then
they never looked back. Mike Shinoda is the man behind this band formation and
now totally 6 members are working together for its awesomeness ! For more
information about this band you can Google for it. I know about them everything
and I am also member of LP Underground 12 since a year. So I will directly jump
to my topic on the reason behind their 4th album title A Thousand Suns and the
song name Radiance.
The song
Radiance has voice of J. Robert Oppenheimer, where he quotes saying:
“We knew the world would not be the same.
A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people who were silent. I
remembered the line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is kind
of persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him, he takes
on multi-armed form and says. ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’.
I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
(Source: Wikipedia).
In this quote Oppenheimer
mentions about Lord Vishnu showing his multi armed form called
"Vishwaroopa" to Prince Arjuna to persuade him to fight against the
evil brothers 'Kauravas' in Mahabharata. When Arjuna refuses to fight against
Kauravas, Lord Krishna who is the Avatar of Lord Vishnu takes a tremendous form
which the normal eyes could not see it. This brilliant form was huge as
infinite cosmos ! With uncountable arms and faces and ornaments and other
matters, that sight was amazing for Arjuna. This scenario is completely
explained in Chapter 11 Verse 10-11 in Bhagavad Gita. In the next verse - 12,
it explains the beauty of that universal form. The below shloka is in Sanskrit
and its translation is given below that.
"divi surya-sahasrasya / bhaved yugapad utthita
yadi bhah sadrishi sa syad / bhasas tasya mahatmanah"
-- Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11 Verse 10-11).
Translation:
"If 'A Thousand Suns' (= surya sahasrasya) rose all at once in the sky, such splendor might approach the effulgence of that Supreme Person in His radiant universal form."
This explains the visual beauty of
that universal form. The ‘Radiance’ form was equal to Thousand Suns of this
cosmos. So the name of the song ‘Radiance’ and the album name ‘A Thousand Suns’,
both might have come from this analogy. This is what I think and I believe,
rest is up to the reader.
This is my personal view and I do
not want to hurt any fans.
Image courtesy: Narayan Hari
(blogger in Sulekha).
