"The people are complaining about Sita," Rama said to Lakshmana. "I know she was faithful to me, but the people doubt her. Their doubt fills me with sorrow."

Lakshmana looked at his brother in confusion.

Rama continued. "Tomorrow you will take Sita into the forest, leaving her there near Valmiki's ashram. She has been wanting to visit the forest ashrams."

All the color drained from Lakshmana's face.

"And you will never speak to me of Sita again." With tears in his eyes, Rama left the room.

Lakshmana stood there, unable to believe what his brother had asked him to do.

"Rama asked me to take you to visit the forest ashrams," Lakshmana said. "Let's go there now."

Sita smiled at Lakshmana. "I told Rama I wanted to visit the ashrams again," she said happily, expecting Rama would join them later.

When they reached the forest, Lakshmana began to weep. "Rama has ordered that I leave you here, Sita. He urges you to go to the rishi Valmiki, who will shelter you in his ashram."

Sita also wept. "Do what you must," she said, and Lakshmana left her there.

When Lakshmana disappeared from view, Sita fell to the ground in despair.

As Sita lay sobbing on the ground, the sons of the rishi Valmiki called to their father and ran to help her.

"So she has come," Valmiki said to himself. He was not surprised, for the gods had revealed this to him in a vision.

Still, Valmiki was moved to pity when he saw the queen. She began to explain what had happened, but he interrupted her. "Say no more," Valmiki assured her. "I know you aren't to blame, and my home is yours."

Valmiki brought her to the ashram, and Sita lived there with Valmiki's family and his followers.

While living in Valmiki's ashram, Sita gave birth to her twins.

Valmiki performed a ritual with kusha grass to protect the first-born son. "This child will be named Kusha," said Valmiki, and Sita smiled.

Valmiki had saved a portion of kusha grass for the second son. He performed the ritual again, and said, "This child will be named Lava," ("Lava" means "portion"). Sita smiled again.

The boys grew up in Valmiki's ashram, and later Valmiki taught them the song he had composed, the Ramayana, the song of their father's adventures, but the boys did not know Rama was their father.

Others, however, say that Sita gave birth to only one son, Lava, and she raised him in Valmiki's ashram.

One day, Sita went to the river to do the laundry, leaving the toddler in Valmiki's care. When Valmiki wasn't looking, Lava wandered off. Valmiki couldn't find him anywhere!

In desperation, Valmiki took a handful of kusha grass and used a mantra to turn the grass into a boy, a duplicate of Lava.

At that moment, Sita returned, holding Lava in her arms. Surprised to see the second child, she asked, "Who is that?"

"That is Kusha," said Valmiki, "Lava's twin."

One day a stranger arrived at Valmiki's ashram: Shatrughna, Rama's brother. He had gotten lost in the forest and was seeking shelter.

Recognizing her brother-in-law, Sita was overcome with emotion and hid in a hut where Shatrughna would not see her.

Valmiki offered the noble prince food and water. Then after the meal, the twins, Lava and Kusha, sang Valmiki's Ramayana, the song of Rama.

Shatrughna listened in amazement. The song included everything; even Shatrughna was part of the boys' song.

"What a beautiful song," Shatrughna exclaimed, "and what beautiful boys!"

But he did not guess they were Rama's sons.

The song Valmiki composed about Rama was very long. "You must memorize it all," he said to Lava and Kusha. The boys obeyed, learning the whole Ramayana by heart.

Everyone who heard the boys' song was amazed; they gave the boys gifts and blessed them.

Valmiki then took the boys to Ayodhya, where Rama heard them sing.

"Who are these two boys? They look like celestial gandharvas, the musicians of heaven! But how do they know of my adventures?" Rama wondered.

Sitting high up on his golden throne, Rama commanded the boys, "Sing! Sing some more!"

Because the Ramayana was so long, and because Rama wanted to hear the whole song from beginning to end, he kept inviting the boys to return to the palace.

Meanwhile, the people of Ayodhya were very curious. "Those boys resemble our king," they whispered to one another. "Who are they really?"

As the boys reached the end of their story, describing how Sita gave birth in exile, Rama stared at them in wonder, realizing who the twins must be.

"Bring your mother to the palace," Rama told the boys. "Let her prove her innocence again in front of all Ayodhya."

Valmiki brought Sita to Ayodhya and presented her to Rama. "Here is the blameless woman you exiled because of gossip," said Valmiki. "And these boys are your sons. Now Sita will again prove her innocence."

Sita kept her eyes fixed on the ground. "If I was loyal to Rama, thinking of no one else," she said, "let the earth-goddess Bhumi receive me."

The goddess arose from under the ground, seated on a shining throne. Bhumi took Sita in her arms, and then they sank back down, and the ground closed over them.

The gods rained down flowers in Sita's honor.

After Sita vanished into the earth, all that remained were blades of grass.

Sita's hair.

Overwhelmed with grief, Rama caressed the grass, thinking of the past.

He then embraced Lava and Kusha, acknowledging them as his sons, princes of Ayodhya.

Later, Rama secured kingdoms for the sons of his brother Bharata, and likewise for the sons of his brother Lakshmana.

Following Bharata's advice, Rama declared that his own sons, Lava and Kusha, would rule Ayodhya after him. Legend reports that Lava founded the city of Lavapura (modern Lahore), and Kusha founded the city of Kasur to the south of Lavapura.