For example, if one is destined to be childless, can he/she still have a child?
Or if one is destined to be poor, can he/she become wealthy?
If there is a way / solution to be blessed with something that one desires that is not in one's destiny or prarabdha, what is it? Is it through pooja and anusthan, or penance? Please provide the details. Is this doable in the kaliyuga? Thank you.
It is possible. For example, the atmadeva incident in Srimad Bhagavatha illustrates this.
On the banks of river Tungabhadra, lived a well learned person by name Atmadeva. He was good natured person, while on the contrary, his wife, Dunduli always liked to talk about others and cause chaos in other families. The fact that he was not blessed with a child made Atmadeva a very sad man.
Atmadeva lived with a ray of hope that someday he will be blessed with a child. However, as years passed by, his hopes started to diminish and one day unable to control his emotions, set out of the house. He didn’t know where he was going and finally reached a jungle.. In the jungle was a great Sadhu who was in meditation. His eyes caught sight of Atmadeva and seeing him in a very depressed state walked towards him and enquired about him. After hearing his desire to be blessed with a child, he started to perceive if he was fortunate to have a child in that birth.
The Sadhu could foresee that Atmadeva was destined with no progeny not only in his present birth but also in all his future births. Hearing this from the sage’s mouth, Atmadeva broke down and the sage was unable to console him.
Seeing Atmadeva in that state, the sage gave Atmadeva a fruit and ordained that he would be blessed with progeny if his wife ate the fruit. Mahans have divine powers that they can even change the fate of a person as seen above. Atmadeva was destined to not have a child in all his births, but the blessings of a Sadhu changed his fate.
Similarly, the destiny of Markandeya was changed by Lord Shiva.
But one should also understand these are exceptions and not the rule. For a more detailed fate vs freewill debate, please see the answers of the Sringeri pontiff..
