56
The Perfection of Yoga
Kṛṣṇa further indicates that of all good families to be born into—families of successful merchants or philosophers or meditators—the best is the family of  yogīs . One who takes birth in a very rich family may be misled. It is normal for a man who is given great riches to try to enjoy those riches; thus rich men's sons often become drunkards or prostitute hunters. Similarly, one who takes birth in a pious family or in a brahminical family often becomes very puffed up and proud, thinking, “I am a  brāhmaṇa ; I am a pious man.” There is chance of degradation in both rich and pious families, but one who takes birth in a family of  yogīs  or of devotees has a much better chance of cultivating again that spiritual life from which he has fallen. Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna:
tatra taṁ buddhi-saṁyogaṁ 
    labhate paurva-dehikam 
    yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ 
    saṁsiddhau kuru-nandana
“On taking such a birth, he again revives the divine consciousness of his previous life, and he tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete success, O son of Kuru.” (Bg. 6.43)
Being born in a family of those who execute  yoga  or devotional service, one remembers his spiritual activities executed in his previous life. Anyone who takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness seriously is not an ordinary person; he must have taken to the same process in his previous life. Why is this?
pūrvābhyāsena tenaiva 
    hriyate hy avaśo'pi saḥ