अग्निसंयोगवद्धेतुश्शस्त्रसंयोग उच्यते।
स्नेहाच्च बहुमानाच्च स्मारये त्वां न शिक्षये॥
agni-saṁyogavad dhetuḥ śastra-saṁyoga ucyate
snehāc ca bahu-mānāc ca smāraye tvāṁ na śikṣaye
agni-saṁyogavat = like contact with fire; hetuḥ = to be a cause of destruction; śastra-saṁyogaḥ = contact with a weapon; ucyate = is said; snehāt ca = out of affection for You; bahu-mānāt = because of the great honor You have for me; ca = and; smāraye = I remind; tvām = You; na = not that; śikṣaye = I teach You [this].
Contact with a weapon, like contact with fire, is said to be a cause of destruction. Out of affection for You and because of the great honor You have for me, I remind You, not that I teach You [this].
1 This is an important lesson for those who don’t have sufficient internal detachment to properly engage in yukta-vairāgya as defined by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and yet try to engage sense objects in “Kṛṣṇa’s service.” See the note to Rāmāyaṇa 2.18.41.
2 Rāmāyaṇa-bhūṣaṇa: smāraye bhavad-vijñātārtham eva smārayāmi. na śikṣaye nāpūrvam artham upadiśāmi.
Just as an object in contact with fire wears out, contact of a weapon also causes the wielder of that weapon to wear out.1 Smāraye tvāṁ na tu śikṣaye indicates that Sītā-devī reminds her husband here of what He already knows; she is not teaching something new to Him.2