In plain words
Just then a kite swooped down and snatched the bowl away. She was badly frightened. ‘If the bowl of pāyasam is gone, it is gone. But what will my husband and the Guru say, blaming me for my carelessness!’ she kept grieving deeply to herself. At once she came down. There Kausalyā and Kaikā were both waiting for her. “What is it, sister? Why are you so agitated?” Kaikā asked, and she told Kaikā everything that had happened, in every detail. They did not quarrel with one another like co-wives of today. Like sisters of one family, they lived with each other in very close, mutual Prema and affection. “Sister! You need not grieve at all. Here, I shall give you some of my pāyasam,” she said, and fetching a bowl she poured part of her pāyasam into it. Kausalyā too, whose heart was large, poured part of her pāyasam into Sumitrā's bowl. All three, with equal shares of pāyasam in three bowls, went to the Guru. “Mothers! May sons be born to you who are virtuous, long-lived, heroes among heroes, and who rule the kingdom to the delight of the people!” he blessed them.
First a son was born to Kausalyā. Seeing His radiance, His strength and His splendour, Vasiṣṭha named Him ‘Rāma’. Rāma means ‘the one who delights all’. To Sumitrā, Daśaratha's second wife, two sons were born. Vasiṣṭha was greatly astonished. ‘What is this? One son born to Kausalyā, one son to Kaikā, and to her alone two children are born!’ he thought. But looking with his yogic vision, he came to know the story of what had happened. He saw that one child from the share of pāyasam Kausalyā gave and one child from the share Kaikā gave, these two children, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna, had been born. So Lakṣmaṇa is half of Rāma, and Śatrughna is half of Bharata. Then Sumitrā thought to herself in this way. She told no one. “If Rāma becomes king, my son Lakṣmaṇa must be His servant. If it is Bharata who becomes king, my second son Śatrughna must be his servant. My two sons have no need of a kingdom. It is enough if one serves Rāma and the other serves Bharata,” and she was content.
From the moment they were born, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna did nothing but cry. They did not sleep; they took no food of any kind either. Sumitrā could not make out what the reason was. She had mantras chanted over both the children, had yantras tied on them; she had vibhūti put on them. In this way she kept having many kinds of remedies tried. But there was no result whatever. Whatever she did, they would not stop crying. Then she went to Vasiṣṭha: “Gurudeva! I cannot understand why my sons are crying like this. Kindly tell me the reason,” she prayed. Then Vasiṣṭha closed his eyes for a while and looked with his vision of tapas: ‘Mother! Lakṣmaṇa is a part of Rāma, Śatrughna a part of Bharata. So lay Lakṣmaṇa down in the cradle where Rāma lies. In the same way, lay Śatrughna down beside Bharata,’ he advised. Sumitrā told Kausalyā and Kaikeyī of this and, with their consent, laid Lakṣmaṇa beside Rāma and Śatrughna beside Bharata. At once Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna stopped crying and began to gurgle with joy. After that they drank their milk well and slept soundly. From then on Lakṣmaṇa followed Rāma, and Śatrughna followed Bharata, like a shadow.