In plain words
Neither attachment to one's own gain nor detachment from greed arises at all. These desires alone are the cause of droughts and famines. That desires must be held in check is the chief message of the Rāmāyaṇa. Through control of the senses, transformation of the mind and the growth of the intellect, we must develop peace in our lives. Life is very precious. It is sacred. To waste such a sacred, precious life is not man's duty.
In the Rāmāyaṇa every person is an ideal. All are embodiments of Dharma. Sacred emperors. Let us take the role of Lakṣmaṇa as an example. Vālmīki describes Lakṣmaṇa beautifully. He says that Lakṣmaṇa is Rāma's second heart. The Kamba Rāmāyaṇa describes Lakṣmaṇa as Rāma's second quality. The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa says that Lakṣmaṇa is like Rāma's right arm. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa have an inseparable bond, like an image and its reflection. In the range of his virtues, in purity, in sacrifice, Lakṣmaṇa has no equal but himself. By His father's command Rāma had to go to the forest. No one ordered Lakṣmaṇa to go to the forest. He gave up everything of his own accord and followed Rāma. He held the Rāma ayana as his chief eye. That is the Rāma ayana. The one who played the chief role in the Rāma ayana is Lakṣmaṇa. He gave up his mother, his kingdom, his wife, everything, and followed Rāma, holding that the principle of Rāma was the principle of the guru, that Rāma was his friend, Rāma his brother, Rāma his very life. Lakṣmaṇa's character and qualities are an ideal for the whole world.
As they went searching for Sītā, on the way, on the Ṛṣyamūka mountain, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa made friends with Sugrīva and Hanumān. There Sugrīva put a bundle of jewels into Rāma's hand and said, "Some woman travelling along the sky let this bundle slip down." When He opened the bundle and looked, Rāma knew nothing about these jewels. He told Lakṣmaṇa. "Lakṣmaṇa, see whether there are any of Sītā's jewels in this." "I do not know the armlets": I do not know whether these bracelets are Mother Sītā's or not. "I do not know the earrings." I do not know whether these earrings are Mother Sītā's or not either. "But the anklets I know": these anklets alone are Mother Sītā's. I know, because "from bowing at her feet every day": every day, when I bowed at her feet, I used to see these anklets on her feet. After the wedding of Sītā and Rāma they lived in Ayōdhyā for twelve years. After that they lived in the forest for thirteen years. In these twenty-five years Lakṣmaṇa, who was with Sītā and Rāma, never once saw Sītā's face. Twelve years of living in Ayōdhyā and fourteen years in the forest should make twenty-six years in all. But for ten months, after all, Sītā was held captive in Laṅkā, so Lakṣmaṇa speaks of thirteen years in the forest.