सोऽहं त्वामागतो द्रष्टुं प्रस्थितो विजनं वनम्।
भरतस्य समीपे तु नाहं कथ्यः कदाचन॥
so ’haṁ tvām āgato draṣṭuṁ prasthito vijanaṁ vanam
bharatasya samīpe tu nāhaṁ kathyaḥ kadācana
saḥ aham = I; tvām = You; āgataḥ = have come; draṣṭum = to see; prasthitaḥ = [while] setting out; vijanam = to the lonely; vanam = forest; bharatasya = of Bharata; samīpe tu = in the presence; na aham kathyaḥ kadācana = you should never praise Me.
I have come to see You [while] setting out to the lonely forest. You should never praise Me in the presence of Bharata.
1 Towards the end of the previous Canto, it was mentioned that Sītā-devī and Lord Rāma understood each other’s hearts intimately. So Rāmacandra knew how to appropriately deal with Mother Sītā in this circumstance. Nevertheless, His instructions to her contain important lessons for us.
Lord Rāma then began to instruct Sītā in order to generate her loving anger towards Him. He did this to understand her heart.1
[He told her that when Bharata] comes to offer her obeisances, she should not praise Rāma in Bharata’s presence.