In plain words
Rāma has the authority to take Lakṣmaṇa with Him. That is His right,” she felt. That is why, blessing Lakṣmaṇa: ‘My son! Serve Sītā and Rāma well,’ she taught him. Just as Lakṣmaṇa always followed Rāma, Śatrughna was always at Bharata’s side. When Bharata set out for the house of his maternal uncle, the king of Kekaya, Śatrughna received no word of any kind, whether to stay or to come. But Śatrughna made himself ready, of his own accord, to go with Bharata in order to serve him. In this way, as the fruit of the good teaching their mother Sumitrā gave them, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna dedicated their lives to service alone.
And the wives: what kind of women were they? Saying she could not stay even a moment away from Rāma, Sītā set out for the forest. Lakṣmaṇa’s wife was Ūrmilā. Like Sumitrā, she too is not named much in the Rāmāyaṇa. Sumitrā and Ūrmilā both lived lives of sacrifice; they are ideals. When Lakṣmaṇa told her he was going to the forest with Sītā and Rāma, Ūrmilā did not grieve at all. If her husband were leaving her for fourteen years and going to the forest, would any wife keep quiet? She would put so many questions. “What need is there for you to go with him? There is no rule that you have to go, is there? So you need not go,” she would argue. But Ūrmilā did not stand in Lakṣmaṇa’s way at all. “My lord! The good fortune of serving Sītā and Rāma has come to you alone. You are very fortunate. Now set out without a moment’s delay,” she said. “Ūrmilā! For fourteen years from now, after all, there will be no way for you to see Sītā and Rāma. So go once, have the darśan of Mother Sītā and come back,” said Lakṣmaṇa. But Ūrmilā did not move from where she was. “My lord! Some hindrance might come from me to your going with Sītā and Rāma. So, without delay, set out at once. Take part in serving them. So as not to stand in the way of your sacred service, I shall stay right here,” she said.