Guest: May I sing one bhajana?
Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. We chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.
Guest: (indistinct)?
Prabhupāda: No, Hare Kṛṣṇa. We chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. It may not be melodious but we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. (Indian man starts singing Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, coughs and stops) All right, don't take now(?). You want water? Eh? Give this glass. Come on. [break] ...nāmaiva eva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva. There is no mention that it should be chanted lowly. So how you can say it is gupta? It is not gupta.
Guest: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: This is also Purāṇa says. Especially it is harer nāma [Cc. Ādi 17.21], not gupta. That is in the Kali-yuga it should be openly chanted and we have to follow our predecessor, Haridāsa Ṭhākura, nāmācārya.
Guest: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: [break] When we chant, when we utter the bīja mantra that we utter loudly. That is required. That is japa. So this mantra is mahāmantra and it should be chanted loudly, or as you like. There is no such restriction. Niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ. Nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ. (Hindi) And we have to follow the great personalities. Haridāsa Ṭhākura, he was chanting very loudly; Caitanya Mahāprabhu chanted very loudly. So what more evidence you want? My Guru Mahārāja chanted loudly, we are chanting loudly. Whole business finished. (chuckles) Is that all right? Eh?
Guest: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Our process is very easy. We have to see whether my Guru Mahārāja, his Guru Mahārāja has followed this. Then there will be no more doubt. Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam [Bg. 4.2]. We receive things by paramparā system. Mahājano yena gataḥ. Sādhu mārgānu-gamanam. We have to follow the footsteps of sādhu.
Guest: (indistinct)
Prabhupāda: Even if I am not well conversant with the Vedas and Purāṇas, if I see that my spiritual master is doing that, that's sufficient.