Father is higher than heaven: J’Khand HC quotes Mahabharata to describe son’s duty towards parents

PTI, Jan 26, 2024, 12:01 PM IST

While delivering judgment in the case of a dispute between a man and his father, the Jharkhand High Court has quoted the Mahabharata and scriptures to highlight the role of a son towards his parents.

Justice Subhash Chand has mentioned the replies of Yudhisthira against the questions of the Yaksha God. The “father is higher than heaven” is one of the statements of the eldest Pandava brother in the Mahabharata.

A 60-year-old man, Deoki Sao, had filed a petition before the Family Court in Koderma seeking maintenance from his younger son Manoj Sao. The court directed him to pay Rs 3000 per month to his elderly father.

Claiming that his father is money-minded and has several sources of income, Manoj filed a criminal revision in the high court challenging the order of the Family Court. Deoki Sao, who lives with his elder son, equally divided the agricultural land he owned between his two sons.

Justice Chand observed that it is the duty of a son to look after his parents.

The court order said: “In Mahabharat, the Yaksh asked to Yudhisthira: ‘What is weightier than the earth itself? What is higher than the heavens?’ Yudhisthira answered: ‘The mother is weightier than the earth; the father is higher than the heaven.” Even if for the sake of argument, the father earns something; it is pious duty of a son to maintain his old aged father, Justice Chand observed in the order.

He also quoted from a scripture: “Father is your God and Mother is your Nature. They are the seed you are the Sapling.” While deciding the case, the court dismissed the petition filed by Manoj and upheld the order of the Family Court directing him to pay Rs 3,000 a month to his father.

In an earlier order involving a distraught wife seeking maintenance from her husband, Justice Chand cited religious texts.

Quoting from a judgment of the apex court, Justice Chand stated that a wife is expected to be with her husband’s family after marriage, unless there is a strong justifiable reason for separation.

He also used excerpts from the Rigveda, Yajurveda and Manusmriti in the order.