The stars or planets are the executives of the cycle of samskaras, karmas and their corresponding fruits which are totally called as cycle of deeds (karma charka). They are the executives of the judgments given by the judge (Dharma deva), who follows the constitution written by God. God never interferes with the executive function of His own commandments as said in the Gita (Nadatte kasyachit paapam). Shastras say that one has to undergo the results of his deeds even after millions of Yugas (Kalpa koti satairapi). This does not mean that the postponement of simple principle takes place. The interest is accumulated by way of compounding. Therefore scholars like to enjoy the results as early as possible. They never pray God to cancel the judgment which is impossible.
By prayers or certain rituals or by exhaustive crying before God, only postponement of the enjoyment of the results along with the interest takes place. Ignorant people misunderstand this postponement as canceling. Therefore this fundamental aspect must be realized. When the priests do certain rituals by taking some dakshina from you, they are purchasing your punishment through your money. Therefore a real Vedic scholar will never do the business of a priest because he knows the whole concept. No real Vedic scholar accepts the dakshina and even food from anybody which are called as aparigraha and vaishwadeva respectively.
Sai Baba said that the breads offered by the house holders were their sins only. Eating that bread is only enjoying the sin of others. Thus you find in our ancient tradition when somebody offers meals in a function to others, others also offer the same in their functions. The priest is earning his livelihood by this way but is becoming more and more affected. The priests are thinking that they are cheating the public but they are cheating themselves by this way. It is better to do hard work and earn the livelihood than such business of transfer of sin for money.
But if the whole ritual is transformed into a divine worship of God, the story is totally different. The grace of God comes there and the God may be pleased to reduce or remove the sin by enjoying it Himself through a human form. Here also the justice is not violated. The father pays the fine for his son. This is the only way of removing the sin. Either it should be postponed with interest or it should be sold to a priest or it should be enjoyed by God Himself. In anyway the result of the deed has to be enjoyed and it can never be cancelled without enjoyment.
But if you conduct the ritual as a divine worship of God and give dakshina to a deserving devotee, then the story is different. Your sin is not enjoyed by the devotee. God comes down in human form and enjoys your sin for the sake of that devotee. Even in this case the results have to be enjoyed only. Instead of selling your sin to a priest, it is better to sell your sin to a devotee. God has the tolerance to enjoy the sin of His devotee or the sin transferred to His devotee from you. But if you do the ritual by worshipping God and offering dakshina to the devotee, without the aim of removing your sins, the result is tremendous. It is a real sacrifice without any aim of business. God will undergo all your sins without any account since your sacrifice is also without any account. Therefore you must remove this poisonous idea of removing your sins through rituals by offering dakshina to the priests or devotees. You must be prepared to undergo the results of your sins and do the rituals with the same sacrifice without aspiring any fruit. Then you will be blessed by God.