In plain words
Remembering the Name of God is essential. In this Kali age there is no path higher than nāma saṅkīrtana. In the Kṛta age, dhyāna; in the Tretā age, yajña; in the Dvāpara age, worship; in the Kali age, remembering the Name. We must recognise the Satya that remembrance alone is the means of crossing over, and keep on remembering the Name. The sweetness of the Name in this singing draws the heart all the more. Many pandits recite in the manner of ślokas. They know only the sense of the śloka, but they cannot experience the sweetness in it. Some others, actors, use the words grandly. Those too cannot bring the feeling alive. But the heart experiences the savour of that singing. Believers, unbelievers, believers and unbelievers: all of them nod their heads in this singing without even knowing it.
With these words one can recite verses. ‘Rāma! Save me,’ we can say. But that did not touch the heart so very much. In words: ‘O Rāma! Save me,’ if we say it, this too does not touch the heart so very much. The same ‘Rāma! Save me,’ if we sing it, how it pulls at the heart! How it draws the heart of God! Such sweetness fills singing. So each of you, even if you cannot sing well, would do well to follow those who sing and to sing too. But some people's mouths do not move at all. They say they are singing within. That does not give true satisfaction. We have cooked all the dishes and set them in the kitchen. If the dishes are in the kitchen, are they coming into your stomach? In the same way, when the feeling is there, it must come onto the tongue, it must come onto the lips. That is saṅkīrtana. That is, you must open your throat and utter the Name of God as far as your own voice will carry. Only then does nāma saṅkīrtana melt the heart of God. Only then can God save you. If a man who has fallen into a well says, ‘I've fallen into the well, I've fallen into the well,’ no one will come and save him. Opening his throat loud and strong: ‘Alas! I have fallen into the well!’: only when he cries out like that can someone hear and save you.