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There are two kinds of Karma Yoga: sākām karma and niṣkām karma. Sākām karma is selfish work. It is done with expectations, only for one's own benefit and interest. This kind of action binds you under karmic laws, which you must pay back sooner or later—in this life or, if not, by taking another birth to settle that karma, be it good or bad. Even good karma can be sākāma, a selfish deed. It is a chain that can tie you, made of iron. Among metals, the best is gold, but a golden chain can also bind you. So, both good and bad karmas will tie you down or lead you into difficult circumstances. Of course, negative karma creates a harder bondage, while some good karmas create a softer one. Then there is niṣkām karma. Niṣkāma means without desire inside. Nīṣ bhenne kāma, nīṣ bhenne vāgya. Karma comes from kāmas (desires), and kāmas come from kriyās (actions). One gives rise to the other. In niṣkām karma, you have no selfish expectations. You are only giving—giving with love, with devotion, with happiness. Give whatever you can, but do not overdo it. Niṣkām karma means performing selfless service (seva) without expectation, without even expecting the words "thank you." If, after doing something, someone does not say thank you and you afterward think, "What a person, they didn't even thank me," it means that in your subconsciousness you were still expecting thanks. That was not niṣkām karma; it was sākām karma. Therefore, in Vedic Sanskriti (Vedic culture), there is no tradition of saying thank you, but rather of giving blessings. Niṣkām karma leads you to liberation. This selfless service yields fruits identical to those of Bhakti Yoga, Rāja Yoga, or Jñāna Yoga. Niṣkām karma leads directly to liberation because its fruits are the fruits of bhakti, rāja, and jñāna. Another way to understand it is that the fruits of sākām karma will be paid in this life, while the fruits of niṣkām karma are for another life. Here, you may enjoy a luxurious life, but in other lives you go with empty hands; nothing is there. In the next life, you could be completely bankrupt. So, what are you taking with you? What will go with you? Do not think only of this life; think of the future life. Consequently, in yoga and Indian culture, there is little research work on past lives, but more on the future. The past is the past; you have no more claim to it. In a past life, you might have been the king of Hungary. Now you are born as a cook. If you suddenly gain knowledge of that past life and realize you were a king, and you go and tell people, "I was a king, give me my kingdom," they will give it to you—they will give you a place in a medical hospital or a mental hospital. "Mr. King, rest here." Or, let's say you were the president of a country ten years ago, but you are not president now. What do you have from the past? Do something for the future, or do something for a permanent position. That is immortality. That is what Mahāprabhujī said in one bhajan.