Kundli Milan: The 36 Gunas Explained

Kundli Milan, or horoscope matching, is the step most Indian families take before a marriage is fixed. The most common method in North and Central India is Ashtakoot Guna Milan, which compares the bride’s and groom’s Moon nakshatras and signs across eight factors, the kootas, worth 36 points in all. South India often uses a related ten-factor system, Dasha Porutham.

The eight kootas

• Varna — 1 point: spiritual and working temperament, from the Moon sign’s element group.
• Vashya — 2 points: mutual attraction and influence, whether one partner naturally draws the other.
• Tara — 3 points: counted from one birth star to the other; shows health and fortune together.
• Yoni — 4 points: the animal symbols of the two nakshatras; physical and instinctive compatibility.
• Graha Maitri — 5 points: friendship between the lords of the two Moon signs; mental compatibility.
• Gana — 6 points: Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa temperament.
• Bhakoot — 7 points: the distance between the two Moon signs; family welfare, prosperity and children.
• Nadi — 8 points: the three nadis of the nakshatras; health and progeny. The most heavily weighted factor.

Reading the score

Tradition sets 18 out of 36 as the minimum for an acceptable match. A score of 18 to 24 is considered average, 25 to 32 good, and above 32 excellent. Very high scores are rare. But the total is only a starting point: two matches with the same score can be very different depending on which kootas earned the points.

Nadi Dosha and Bhakoot Dosha

When both partners have the same nadi, the Nadi koota scores zero and Nadi Dosha is said to form, traditionally linked to health and children. When the Moon signs are 6 and 8, 5 and 9, or 2 and 12 apart, Bhakoot scores zero and Bhakoot Dosha forms. Both have well-known exceptions: for example, the same Moon sign with different nakshatras, the same nakshatra with different padas, or Moon-sign lords that are friends or the same planet. A good report lists these cancellations instead of simply subtracting points.

Mangal Dosha is separate

Guna Milan does not include Mangal Dosha. It is checked separately in each chart from the position of Mars, and the usual rule is that a Manglik partner is matched with another Manglik or with a chart whose cancellations neutralise it.

What the score cannot tell you

Ashtakoot matching uses only the Moon. It says nothing about the 7th house, its lord, Venus, Jupiter or the Navamsa of either chart — the factors a classical astrologer reads to judge marriage itself — and nothing about the Dashas each person will run in the years ahead. An experienced astrologer therefore looks at both charts as a whole: longevity, the promise of marriage in each, and whether the timing suits. Values, communication and family understanding matter as much as any score.

If the birth time is unknown

Guna Milan needs only the Moon’s nakshatra, so it can often be done from the date and place alone, as long as the Moon did not change nakshatra that day. Where it did, both possibilities should be checked. Many families use the nama nakshatra, the star given by the first syllable of the name, when no birth details are known at all.

Our Compatibility tool calculates both Moon positions from birth details, shows the score koota by koota with each dosha and its cancellations, and checks Mangal Dosha in both charts.