Valmiki's Ashram and the Birth of Luv and Kush

This story comes from the Uttar Kand of the Valmiki Ramayan; Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas does not tell it. Sita was expecting a child, and she wished to visit the ashrams of the sages by the Ganga. Ram happily agreed.

At that time Ram asked his companion Bhadra what the people of the city were saying. Hesitantly Bhadra told him: they praise your victory, but some gossip about Sita having stayed in Lanka. Ram's heart broke. He knew Sita was entirely innocent, but as king he placed his people above his own happiness. This decision became the deepest sorrow of his life.

Heavy-hearted, Lakshman took Sita across the Ganga in a chariot. There, weeping, he told her the truth. Sita listened with patience. She sent Ram a message: caring for your people is your dharma; fulfil it. For me, you are everything. Tradition still remembers her grace with deep respect.

Children of the ashram saw Sita weeping and told the great sage Valmiki. Valmiki gave her shelter in his ashram as his own daughter. The women ascetics there welcomed her lovingly too.

There Sita gave birth to twin sons. Valmiki performed a protective rite with kusha grass, so the elder was named Kush, and from the lower part of the grass, called lava, the younger was named Luv. The two boys grew up learning in the sage's care.