Actions that are performed in terms of one’s prescribed duties, as mentioned in the revealed scriptures, are called Karma. ‘Akarma’ are actions that are devoted to the Supreme Lord and are free from material bondage. Actions that are opposed to the instructions of the revealed scriptures, performed through the misuse of one’s freedom, are called ‘Vikarma’.
‘Vikarma’ leads one to the lower forms of life. Of these three, the work, i.e. Akarma, that frees one from the bondage of material life, is favored by intelligent men. Ordinary men might want to conduct good deeds for fame and recognition in this life or perhaps attain heavenly pleasures in the next. However, intelligent men know that both good and bad work binds one to material miseries and hence they choose to act so that they would become free from both good and bad reactions. Vikarma, however, is sinful work that drags one to hellish life.