न सम्भाषेत्स्त्रियं काञ्चित्पूर्वदृष्टां च न स्मरेत् ।
कथां च वर्जयेत्तासां न पश्येल्लिखितामपि ॥
एतच्चतुष्टयं मोहात्स्त्रीणामाचरतो यतेः ।
चित्तं विक्रियतेऽवश्यं तद्विकारात्प्रणश्यति ॥
na sambhāṣet striyaṁ kāñcit pūrva-dṛṣṭāṁ ca na smaret |
kathāṁ ca varjayet tāsāṁ na paśyel likhitām api ||
etac catuṣṭayaṁ mohāt strīṇām ācarato yateḥ |
cittaṁ vikriyate’vaśyaṁ tad-vikārāt praṇaśyati ||
(Nārada Parivrājaka Upaniṣad: 4.3–4)
“One should not converse with a woman, and one should not remember one who was seen previously. One should not speak of them, and one should not even look at a picture of them. The mind of an ascetic who engages in [any of] these four [activities] is certainly disturbed as a result of bewilderment [i.e., the bewilderment that arises as a result of these activities], and as a result of that agitation, he is ruined.”