Kundli Milan: The 36 Gunas of Ashtakoot Explained

Last updated: September 2026 · By Acharya Alok Pandit, Divine Hindu, Jayanagar 3rd Block East, Bengaluru 560011 · ~15 min read

Ask any Indian family what happens before a marriage is fixed and "kundli milaana" will come up early. Two charts go to an astrologer, a number comes back out of 36, and a great deal of hope or worry attaches to that number. Twenty-eight is celebrated. Sixteen causes a crisis. Somebody mentions Nadi dosha and the room goes quiet.

The system behind the number is genuinely interesting and worth understanding properly, because understanding it does two things at once: it shows you what the score is actually measuring, and it shows you how narrow that measurement is. This guide walks through all eight koots, their point values, what each is traditionally held to assess, the conventional thresholds, and — the part most articles skip — the classical exceptions to Bhakoot and Nadi dosha.

Before anything else, the framing we hold to. Kundli Milan is a traditional practice, followed as a matter of faith and custom. It does not predict the future as fact, no score is guaranteed to be accurate, and it is not a substitute for professional advice — medical, legal, financial or relationship. It is one input into a decision that belongs to two adults and their families.

What Kundli Milan actually compares

Here is the point that reframes everything: almost the whole of Ashtakoot is computed from one thing in each chart — the position of the Moon. Specifically, the Moon's nakshatra (and in some koots its pada) and the Moon's rashi. The Sun is not used. The ascendant is not used. The other seven grahas do not enter the calculation at all except through the rulers of the two Moon signs.

That is why a full guna score can be produced from just a date, time and place for each person — and it is also why the score, taken alone, is a thin instrument. A chart contains a great deal that Ashtakoot never looks at. If you are new to the underlying structure, our guide to how to read your kundli covers the houses, grahas and nakshatras that the score leaves out.

Traditionally the bride's chart and the groom's chart are compared koot by koot, points are awarded for each, and the eight results are added. The classical source most often cited for the method is the Muhurta Chintamani tradition and the north Indian match-making manuals that follow it; south Indian practice uses an overlapping but not identical set of tests, which is one reason two astrologers can return different numbers for the same pair.

The eight koots and their points

Notice the weighting. The last two koots alone carry 15 of the 36 points — nearly a fifth of the total sits on Nadi and another fifth on Bhakoot. That is why a match can look excellent on six koots and still land in the low twenties, and why so much argument concentrates on these two.

Koot by koot

1. Varna — 1 point

Each Moon sign is assigned to one of four varnas: the water signs to Brahmin, the fire signs to Kshatriya, the air signs to Vaishya and the earth signs to Shudra. The classical rule awards the point when the groom's varna is equal to or higher than the bride's in this ordering, and withholds it otherwise.

This is the koot that sits least comfortably with modern readers, and it is worth being straightforward about that. In the astrological texts the categories are used as descriptions of temperament and inner orientation rather than of social caste, and the varna here is derived from the Moon sign, not from birth or community. It carries a single point out of thirty-six — the smallest weight in the system — and a great many practitioners treat it as close to a formality. It has nothing to do with anyone's community or background, and it should not be read that way.

2. Vashya — 2 points

The twelve rashis are sorted into five vashya classes — commonly rendered as quadruped, human, aquatic, wild and insect — and points are awarded according to how the bride's class relates to the groom's. The koot is traditionally described as measuring mutual influence: which partner naturally leads, which naturally yields, and whether that dynamic is comfortable. Full marks go to pairs in the same or a mutually agreeable class; half a point or zero to those in classes the tradition treats as opposed.

3. Tara — 3 points

Tara means star, and this koot is pure counting. You count the nakshatras from the bride's to the groom's, and again from the groom's to the bride's, and divide each count by nine. The remainder identifies one of nine taras, of which some are traditionally auspicious and others not. Both directions are checked, and the points depend on how many of the two come out favourable — 3 if both are good, 1.5 if one is, 0 if neither.

Tara is worth knowing about because it is the koot most directly built on the 27-nakshatra cycle, which we cover in the 27 nakshatras and their ruling planets.

4. Yoni — 4 points

Each of the 27 nakshatras is assigned an animal — the yoni — giving fourteen animals across the set, each appearing as a male and a female form. Horse, elephant, sheep, serpent, dog, cat, rat, cow, buffalo, tiger, deer, monkey, mongoose and lion make up the list. Points are awarded from a traditional table: 4 for the same yoni, descending through friendly and neutral pairings, and 0 for pairs the tradition treats as natural enemies, such as cat and rat or cow and tiger.

Yoni koot is conventionally described as assessing physical and instinctive compatibility. It is a symbolic scheme built on animal temperaments, and it is best read as such.

5. Graha Maitri — 5 points

This one steps outside the nakshatra system and looks at planets. The lord of the bride's Moon sign and the lord of the groom's Moon sign are compared using the standard scheme of planetary friendship in jyotish, in which each graha has natural friends, neutrals and enemies. Full 5 points where both lords are mutual friends, descending through the combinations, 0 where both are mutual enemies.

Graha Maitri is traditionally read as mental rapport — whether two minds find each other easy company. Practitioners often regard it, along with Nadi and Bhakoot, as one of the koots that actually carries weight, partly because it is the only one grounded in planetary relationships rather than in categorical tables.

6. Gana — 6 points

The 27 nakshatras are divided into three ganas: Deva (divine — gentle, principled, inclined to harmony), Manushya (human — mixed, practical) and Rakshasa (demonic in name only — forceful, independent, strong-willed). Same gana scores the full 6. Deva with Manushya and Manushya with Rakshasa score partially. Deva with Rakshasa scores 0, as the tradition treats those two temperaments as hardest to reconcile.

The names are unfortunate in translation. Rakshasa gana does not mean a bad person; it describes an assertive, self-directed temperament, and a great many admired people fall in it. It is a description of disposition, nothing more.

7. Bhakoot — 7 points

Bhakoot, also called Rashi koot, compares the two Moon signs by counting from each to the other. Certain counts are treated as harmonious and score the full 7; three specific pairs score 0 and constitute Bhakoot dosha. We give it its own section below, because the exceptions matter.

8. Nadi — 8 points

The 27 nakshatras are divided into three nadis — Adi (first), Madhya (middle) and Antya (last), nine nakshatras in each. Different nadis score the full 8. Same nadi scores 0, which is called Nadi dosha or Eka Nadi dosha and is the single largest point loss available in the system.

Nadi is traditionally described in terms of constitution, and later literature sometimes correlates the three nadis with the three doshas of Ayurveda. It is also, in the same tradition, associated with progeny. None of this is a medical or genetic assessment and it should not be treated as one. It is a symbolic classification derived from a lunar position. Any actual question about health, fertility or heredity belongs with a qualified doctor or genetic counsellor, and nothing in a guna score should displace that.

What the score conventionally means

Two cautions about this table. First, a very high score is not automatically better. Some practitioners regard scores at the very top with mild suspicion, on the view that two charts that agree in every category may be too alike. Second, the number hides its own composition. A 20 made up of solid points across seven koots with one zero is a different situation from a 20 that scrapes through with partial credit everywhere. Ask which koots produced the number, not just what the number is.

Bhakoot dosha, and the exceptions most sites leave out

Bhakoot compares the two Moon rashis by counting from one to the other. The tradition treats three specific relationships as dosha and awards 0 of the 7 points:

The counts 1–1, 3–11, 4–10 and 7–7 are treated as harmonious and take the full 7.

Now the part that is routinely omitted from online calculators. The classical literature records cancellations — parihara — under which Bhakoot dosha is held not to apply:

• The two Moon signs share the same lord. The clearest case. Capricorn and Aquarius count as 2 and 12 from each other, which looks like Dwirdwadash — but both are ruled by Saturn, and the dosha is held to be cancelled. The same logic covers Taurus and Libra (both Venus), Aries and Scorpio (both Mars), Gemini and Virgo (both Mercury), and Sagittarius and Pisces (both Jupiter).
• The two Moon-sign lords are natural friends. Where the rulers of the two rashis are friends in the standard planetary friendship scheme, the dosha is widely held to be reduced or removed.
• Graha Maitri is strong. Many practitioners hold that a full or near-full Graha Maitri score offsets Bhakoot, on the reasoning that both koots are testing the same underlying relationship between the two Moon-sign lords — so a Bhakoot zero sitting next to a Graha Maitri five is internally contradictory and the friendlier reading is preferred.

A responsible practitioner checks these before flagging Bhakoot dosha at all. An automated score that reports "Bhakoot 0" without checking the sign lords is telling you something arithmetically true and traditionally incomplete.

Nadi dosha, and its classical cancellations

Nadi dosha is the one that frightens people, because it costs 8 points in one stroke and because it is the koot most often described in ominous terms. The rule itself is simple: if both charts fall in the same nadi — both Adi, both Madhya or both Antya — the score is 0.

The tradition that produced the rule also produced its exceptions, and they are extensive. The commonly cited cancellations include:

• Same nakshatra, different rashi. Where both Moons occupy the same nakshatra but fall in different Moon signs, Eka Nadi dosha is traditionally held not to apply.
• Same rashi, different nakshatra. The mirror case: same Moon sign, different nakshatras, and the dosha is again held to be cancelled.
• Same nakshatra, different pada. Where both fall in the same nakshatra but in different quarters of it, many practitioners treat the dosha as cancelled.
• Same Moon sign lord, or friendly lords. Where the rashi lords are the same planet, or are natural friends, the dosha is widely held to be diminished. Some lineages specify Mercury, Venus or Jupiter as lords under which Eka Nadi is set aside.
• Strong Graha Maitri. As with Bhakoot, a strong showing on the friendship koot is commonly taken to mitigate.

Different schools accept different subsets of these, and some practitioners are stricter than others — that is normal and it is honest to say so rather than to present one list as settled. The useful conclusion is not "Nadi dosha does not matter" but rather: a reported Nadi 0 is the beginning of an examination, not the end of one. If a calculator has told you a match has Nadi dosha, the right next step is to have the two charts looked at by a person who will check the exceptions.

Manglik dosha is a separate test

This confusion is worth heading off, because it comes up constantly. Mangal or Manglik dosha is not part of the 36 gunas. It is a separate check, based on the placement of Mars in specific houses in each chart, and it is examined alongside guna milan rather than inside it. A pair can score 30 out of 36 and still be flagged for Manglik dosha; a pair can score 19 with no Manglik consideration at all.

Manglik dosha has its own long list of traditional exceptions and cancellations, which we cover in Manglik dosh and its traditional remedies. Other configurations sometimes raised at the same stage, such as Kaal Sarp dosh, are likewise outside the Ashtakoot count.

What guna milan does not look at

This list is the honest counterweight to the score, and it is longer than most people expect. Ashtakoot does not examine:

• The lagna of either chart, or the lagna lords — see what the lagna means.
• The seventh house and its lord in either chart, which classical texts treat as the primary indicators of marriage.
• The condition of Venus and Jupiter, traditionally the significators of marriage for the two partners.
• The navamsha (D9) divisional chart, which many practitioners consider the most important chart of all for marriage.
• The dasha periods either person is running or about to enter — see how Vimshottari dasha works.
• Anything at all about the two people: their values, their families, their work, their health, their finances, or whether they actually want to be married to each other.

That last item is not a joke. The score is computed from two Moon positions. It cannot know anything else, and it does not claim to.

How to use the number sensibly

1. Ask for the koot-by-koot breakdown, not just the total. Which koots gave points and which did not is far more informative than the sum.
2. If a dosha is flagged, ask whether the cancellations were checked. For Bhakoot: same sign lord, friendly lords, Graha Maitri. For Nadi: same nakshatra with different rashi, same rashi with different nakshatra, different pada, friendly or identical lords.
3. Have the full charts read, not only the gunas. Seventh house, seventh lord, Venus, Jupiter, the navamsha and the running dashas are where a competent practitioner spends most of the time.
4. Get the birth times right. A wrong birth time can move a Moon across a nakshatra boundary and change several koots at once.
5. Do not let the number make the decision. Families have called off good matches over a 17 and pushed through poor ones on a 32. The tradition itself does not claim the score can do that work.

Kundli Milan in the Divine Hindu app

The Kundli Milan report is available in the Divine Hindu Android app. You enter the date, exact time and place of birth for both people; the app generates the matching report and displays it to you inside the app after a short processing period. There is no emailed PDF and nothing is sent to you manually — the report opens in the app itself and stays available there. The individual Kundli report is also in the app, at ₹51, and if you would like to discuss what a result means you can consult an astrologer through the app directly.

What the report is not: a prediction of future events as fact, a guarantee of accuracy, or a substitute for professional medical, legal, financial or relationship advice. It certainly is not a verdict on whether two people should marry. It is a traditional calculation, offered as a devotional and cultural service, to be weighed alongside everything else that matters.

For a broader look at the matching report and what it covers, see Kundli matching for marriage, and our overview of which personalised report you need.

Traditional accompaniments

Where a family wishes to mark the occasion in the customary way, tradition offers the recitation of the navagraha beej mantras and, in many households, the gift of a stone associated with the relevant graha — Pukhraj, Jupiter's stone, is the customary choice around marriage. These are matters of faith and custom, offered as tradition and nothing more; no stone or mantra is claimed to change an outcome. If you are looking at a stone, our rashi stone chart and shop by rashi pages are the place to start, and before you buy, read Choosing Gemstone Weight and Ratti to Carat and check any quoted weight against the Ratti Carat Converter. The full range is in our gemstone collection.

This guide is for educational and devotional purposes. Kundli Milan is a traditional practice followed as a matter of faith and custom; methods, thresholds and cancellations vary between schools, regions and practitioners. Nothing here predicts the future as fact, guarantees accuracy, or should be relied on in place of professional medical, legal, financial or relationship advice.