Hare Krsna Prabhus,

Pranams.. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Just sharing some nectar from His Divine Grace..
Yhs, Bal.

Srila Prabhupada defines “Karmis”

Extract from morning walk April 24th 1976, Srila Prabhupada’s last visit to Melbourne Australia.
Please see full conversation… https://causelessmercy.com/t/?P=760424mw.mel&PLFN=Melbourne

Guru-kṛpā: The jñānīs, they are trying to study Vedānta to find out what is the end. So that is better than being karmī.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Guru-kṛpā: Even if they don’t know the answer, they are trying to seek out.
Prabhupāda: No, their answer is there, merging with the Supreme.
Guru-kṛpā: But again they must come back. That’s not complete liberation.
Prabhupāda: That means not complete knowledge.
Guru-kṛpā: So they have also stopped, ended in Brahman.
Prabhupāda: Āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho ’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ [SB 10.2.32].
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Practically, Śrīla Prabhupāda, we see that we’re dealing mostly with karmīs, not with jñānīs, in our preaching work.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: And they are simply interested in some immediate satisfaction.
Prabhupāda: Karmīs not. Vikarmī. Karmī, vikarmī, akarmī. We are dealing with vikarmī.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Vikarma, oh. Prohibited actions.
Prabhupāda: Yes. Karmīs will not do anything sinful.
Guru-kṛpā: Nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma [Bhāg. 5.5.4].
Prabhupāda: Vikarma, yes.
Devotee (2): So why do we call them karmīs?
Prabhupāda: Vikarmīs, opposite karmī.
Devotee (2): So there’s practically no karmīs.
Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Sinful.
Prabhupāda: Sinful activities, duṣkṛtinaḥ. Vikarma. Therefore they will be punished in different forms of life. Therefore we find so many species of life, forms of life. This is punishment. But māyā’s curtain, they are thinking, “We are happy.” Just like this tree is a punishment, but it has no sense that this is punishment.
Guru-kṛpā: Thinks he’s happy.
Prabhupāda: Standing happily for five thousand years.
Guru-kṛpā: Drinking only water.
Prabhupāda: If you are asked to stand here for five hours, you’ll feel most uncomfortable. But they are standing for five thousand years, no uncomfortable. This is punishment. Punishment is there, but unaware. So everyone is like that. Anyone in the material world, they are being punished in different degree, but unaware. That is māyā’s grace, that although he is punished, he cannot understand.
Guru-kṛpā: So they answer that “If you’re happy, then what’s wrong with that?”
Prabhupāda: Yes, that class you are here. You go on with that happiness. But we are not satisfied with this. You are rascal, you are happy in that way, but we are not. That is the difference between you and me.
Guru-kṛpā: Happiness of the fool.
Prabhupāda: Yes.