Nakshatra Compatibility Calculator

What this calculator does

Ashtakoota, also called Guna Milan, is the traditional way to compare two people for marriage in Vedic astrology. It reads only the Moon: the nakshatra each person’s Moon was in, and the Moon sign that follows from it. From these it scores eight factors, the kutas, with a total of 36 points. This calculator scores all eight from two nakshatras and padas. It needs no birth time, only the two nakshatras, which is useful when you know the birth star from a horoscope but not the full details. If you have the full birth details, the nakshatra calculator gives the nakshatra and pada for each person.

The first person is treated as the bride and the second as the groom, because a few kutas are not symmetrical in the traditional method. You can enter the two in any order for a general comparison, and read the answer as a measure of how the two Moons sit together.

The eight kutas

Varna (1 point) compares the varna of the two Moon signs, a traditional ranking of temperament, and gives the point when the second person’s varna is the same or higher. Vashya (2 points) looks at the group of each Moon sign and how readily the two influence each other. Tara (3 points) counts the stars from each nakshatra to the other, in nines, and takes away 1.5 for each direction that falls on the third, fifth or seventh star. Yoni (4 points) pairs the animal symbol of each nakshatra, so that, for example, the same animal scores 4 and sworn enemies score 0.

Graha Maitri (5 points) checks how friendly the lords of the two Moon signs are, using the natural friendships of the planets. Gana (6 points) compares the three temperaments: Deva, Manushya and Rakshasa. Bhakoot (7 points) looks at the distance between the two Moon signs and gives nothing when they stand 2 and 12, 5 and 9 or 6 and 8 from each other. Nadi (8 points) gives nothing when both belong to the same nadi, Adi, Madhya or Antya.

Reading the score

Tradition treats 18 out of 36 as the usual minimum, 25 and above as good and 33 and above as very high. These bands are guidance only. A score is one lens on two charts, and a priest or astrologer weighs it together with the rest: the Mangal dosha, the dashas, the strength of the seventh house and the families’ wishes. A low score on one kuta is not a verdict, and the classical texts list exceptions to Nadi and Bhakoot, which the tool names when it shows a zero for them. A lower score is not, by itself, a reason to end a relationship.

Where traditions differ

This is a point to be honest about. The eight kutas themselves are agreed across North India, but the tables that give the points differ between books and websites, most of all for Vashya. This calculator uses one widely published table for Vashya, and records it in the page code. South Indian practice uses a different method, the ten poruthams, in which several kutas are scored as simply matching or not. The Vashya group of Dhanu and Makara is also split at the middle of the sign, and where a pada straddles that line the tool uses the half in which the pada begins. If your family follows a different almanac, trust it.

What it does not do

It does not look at birth times, the Mangal dosha or the dashas. For those and for the wider picture, see the guide to kundali matching and the free kundali tool. To match by names instead of birth stars, use the gun milan by name calculator.

Frequently asked questions