free will (reposting after aligning)

[Chandrasekaran Venkatraman (NET/MtView)]

Dear members,
    I have an unclarity about the definition of free-will and 
its repurcussions on one leading a dharmic or adharmic life.
    If we see Jaya, Vijaya episode: the brothers were given a 
choice by the Lord. One choice was to take 1000 (?) good births 
before returning to vaikuNTam. Another choice was to take 10 (?) 
bad births and get killed by the Lord Himself before returning. 
The brothers accepted the second choice in order to be able to 
return to the Lord soon.
   But does this mean that a person taking birth and leading a 
dharmic/adharmic life is predestined. How does free-will come 
into play here?
   It's often said (or that's the way I understood), that every 
human has a fair share for his free-will to exercise due to which 
he accrues karma. But going by the above episode, it's confusing 
how one could be let to lead a life by his free-will against the 
pre-destiny.

   I appreciate if scholars can enlighten.

   Thanks and regards,
   chandrasekaran.