After King Janaka discovered a child buried in the earth of Mithila who he adopted as his daughter and named Sita, his wife and he were blessed with another child, Urmila. Urmila was married to Lakshman and some historians consider her sacrifice bigger than Sita because while Sita accompanied her husband to exile, Urmila, a newly wed, was separated from her husband for 14 years.
As per Uttara Kanda, Urmila was the only one in the family who did not offer herself to River Sarju and there was a reason. Her sister, Goddess Sita before returning to earth, had extracted a promise from her that she would look after her children Luv and Kush. Urmila kept her promise and groomed Sita’s sons Lava and Kusha to become exemplary kings of Ayodhya. This was her second sacrifice for the family after being separated from her husband Lakshman for many years.
To be continued