Kundali matching, or Guna Milan, compares the Moon’s position in two birth charts against a fixed eight-part scoring system called Ashtakoota, worth 36 points in total. The free kundli matching tool, also a tab of the free kundali tool, runs that system on the two charts you enter, then adds three panels of its own: a Mangal dosha comparison, a closer look at Yoni and Nadi, and spouse indicators read from the male partner’s chart. This page documents what those panels actually check, koota by koota, so a result can be read rather than accepted.
Every one of the eight kootas is read from the Moon, the Chandra Kundali, not the Lagna or any other point in the chart. Classically the Moon is the karaka for the manas, the mind and emotional temperament, which is why a matching system built for day-to-day compatibility starts there rather than with the ascendant or the Sun.
What the matching panel actually shows
The compatibility form asks for a full birth date, time and place for a male partner and a female partner, the same detail the single-chart tool asks for. Once both are entered, the results screen opens with a circular score display, a number out of 36, coloured and accompanied by a one-line summary (Very High Score, Good Score, Acceptable Score or Below the Usual Minimum), plus a short line saying which Moon nakshatra, pada and sign each partner’s score was worked from.
Below the score sits the Ashtakoota (Kuta) Breakdown, a table with four columns: the koota’s name (with a short description you can open), its result as points out of the maximum, the male partner’s specific value for that koota, and the female partner’s value. This is the table the rest of this page is about.
Beyond the eight kootas, a separate Additional Factors card shows four South Indian checks, worked out from the two birth nakshatras: Rajju, Vedha, Mahendra and Stree Deergha. Each is marked Good or Bad in this site’s own neutral wording, with one sentence saying why, and none of them is part of the score out of 36. Nothing about lifespan, health or “spouse loss” is shown at all, because this site makes no predictions about death, lifespan or health.
Four more cards follow, and these are worked out separately from the 36-point score:
- Dosha Compatibility Warnings. If the Nadi or the Bhakoot koota comes back unfavourable, a card explains what that means and lists the classical exceptions worth checking. No other koota gets a dedicated warning card this way.
- Mangal Dosha Comparison. Each partner’s chart is checked separately for Mangal dosha, then the two results are read together.
- Nakshatra and Yoni Compatibility. A second, independent look at the Yoni animal for each partner’s nakshatra, plus a second, independent check of Nadi.
- Spouse Indicators (from Male Chart). The seventh house, its lord, Darakaraka and Venus, read from the male partner’s chart only.
The score and the eight-kuta table are worked out in the browser by the site’s own Ashtakoota engine (the same one the Ashtakoota calculator uses), from each partner’s Moon nakshatra, pada and sign once both birth details are entered. The Mangal comparison, the Yoni and Nadi recheck, and the spouse indicators are worked out afterwards from each partner’s planetary positions and house placements. That split matters: the 36-point score is fixed the moment the engine returns it, and the panels built afterwards can fail independently of it without affecting the score or table above them.
The eight kootas, and what each one measures
Ashtakoota, literally the eight kootas, or eight compartments, is the specific point system this tool runs. Four of the eight are read from the Moon’s rashi, its zodiac sign. The other four are read from the Moon’s nakshatra, its lunar mansion, one of 27 fixed segments of the sky the Moon occupies at birth. Knowing which of the two a koota comes from explains why some scores move together and others do not: two people can share a Moon sign and still fall in different nakshatras, or share a nakshatra that straddles the edge of two signs.
| Koota | Points | What it measures | Computed from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varna | 1 | Spiritual temperament and ego style, grouped into four tiers: Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra | The Moon’s rashi |
| Vashya | 2 | Mutual influence and attraction, grouped into five categories: Chatushpada, Manava, Jalachara, Vanachara or Keeta | The Moon’s rashi |
| Tara (also called Dina) | 3 | Health and day-to-day harmony, found by counting from one partner’s nakshatra to the other’s | The Moon’s nakshatra |
| Yoni | 4 | Physical and temperamental fit, read from an animal symbol attached to each nakshatra | The Moon’s nakshatra |
| Graha Maitri | 5 | Mental and intellectual compatibility, from the classical friendship between the two Moon sign lords | The Moon’s rashi, through its ruling planet |
| Gana | 6 | Temperament type, one of three: Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa | The Moon’s nakshatra |
| Bhakoot (also called Rasi) | 7 | Emotional, financial and family harmony, from the angle between the two Moon signs | The Moon’s rashi |
| Nadi | 8 | Constitutional fit (traditionally linked with health and children), one of three: Adi, Madhya or Antya | The Moon’s nakshatra |
Add the maximum points and the total is 36, the ceiling the score display is always measured against.
A little more on how each one works, in the tool’s own terms:
Varna sorts the Moon’s rashi into one of four tiers by element: water signs read as Brahmin, fire signs as Kshatriya, earth signs as Vaishya, and air signs as Shudra. Convention holds that the male partner’s varna should sit at or above the female partner’s; it is the smallest koota on the table and the one least discussed outside classical texts.
Vashya looks at which partner’s temperament tends to lead in the relationship, using five broad groupings drawn from animal categories: quadruped, human, aquatic, wild and insect natures. Certain pairings are read as naturally balanced, others as one-sided.
Tara, also called Dina, counts nakshatras. Starting from one partner’s birth nakshatra and counting to the other’s, in both directions, lands on one of nine tara. Some of these are read as favourable for daily harmony and health, others as difficult. Because the count runs in both directions, the two partners can land on different tara from each other’s point of view, part of why this koota carries only three points.
Yoni assigns each of the 27 nakshatras an animal, one of fourteen used across the full set, each with a gender. Where both partners’ nakshatras carry the same animal, the koota scores its full four points. Where the two animals are a recognised natural-enemy pair, such as horse and buffalo, or cat and rat, it scores zero. Any other pairing scores 1, 2 or 3 according to how friendly the two animals are. This is the koota most directly about physical fit, and the one this tool checks twice: once inside the main score, and again by name in the Nakshatra and Yoni Compatibility card below.
Graha Maitri, sometimes called Rasyadhipati, does not look at the Moon signs directly but at their rulers. Each rashi has a ruling planet, and classical Jyotisha treats the seven planets as holding fixed natural friendships, neutralities and enmities with each other, not always mutual in both directions. Where the two Moon sign lords are friends, or the same planet, the koota scores well; where they are enemies, it scores poorly. This is the koota most directly about how two people think and decide together.
Gana groups all 27 nakshatras into three temperament types: Deva, gentle and refined; Manushya, mixed and ordinary; and Rakshasa, intense and independent. Two Deva or two Manushya or two Rakshasa nakshatras score the full six points. A Deva paired with a Rakshasa nakshatra is the combination classical texts treat as hardest, though, as covered below, several authorities weigh it far more leniently than Nadi or Bhakoot.
Bhakoot, also shown as Rasi, looks at the angle between the two Moon signs rather than either sign on its own. Where the two signs sit second and twelfth from each other, sixth and eighth, or fifth and ninth, the koota is read as unfavourable regardless of how well the other seven score, because these three relationships are held to strain finances, health or children specifically. Any other angular relationship scores the full seven points.
Nadi, worth eight points, the largest single weight on the table, sorts all 27 nakshatras into three constitutional types, Adi, Madhya and Antya, corresponding loosely to the classical Vata, Pitta and Kapha groupings. The assignment runs through the nakshatra order in a zigzag of six: Ashwini is Adi, Bharani Madhya, Krittika Antya, then Rohini Antya again, Mrigashira Madhya and Ardra Adi, and the same six-step pattern repeats through to Revati. Tools that simply count one, two, three in a loop get one nakshatra in every three wrong. Where both partners land in the same Nadi, the koota scores zero. Where they differ, it scores the full eight.
Take a hypothetical pair to see the Nadi and Yoni mechanics together. A groom with the Moon in Ashwini falls in Adi Nadi and carries the horse as his Yoni animal. A bride with the Moon in Bharani falls in Madhya Nadi and carries the elephant. The Nadis differ, so this pairing scores the full eight points there, and horse and elephant are not a listed enemy pair, so Yoni scores a middle value. Had the bride’s Moon instead fallen in Ardra, also Adi Nadi, the two would share a Nadi and the panel would report Nadi Dosha at zero of eight, with the exceptions below worth checking against the actual chart.
Reading a total honestly
A guna score is information about eight specific, narrow comparisons. It is not a verdict on a relationship, and the tool’s own wording avoids that word entirely. What it does use is four descriptive bands, tied to the score out of 36:
| The tool’s own wording | Score out of 36 |
|---|---|
| Very High Score | 33 to 36 |
| Good Score | 25 to 32 |
| Acceptable Score | 18 to 24 |
| Below the Usual Minimum | 0 to 17 |
It is worth sitting with what this table says about the number people repeat most often: 18 of 36 is a widely followed convention for the minimum acceptable score, and it is convention rather than a rule fixed in any text, since regions and families apply it differently, some treating it as a hard floor and others as one input among several. On this tool’s own scale, 18 is the first point of the Acceptable Score band, because the tool follows the common convention and labels anything under 18 as below the usual minimum. That is a label for a reference point, not a pass or fail line: a score of 18 and a score of 24 both land in the same band, and 17 is only one point below. The honest use of the number is to read the band it falls in, read the table above it for which kootas pulled the score up or down, and treat 18 as a reference point rather than a pass or fail line.
The other point worth making plainly: this score is one comparison run on one part of two charts, the Moon’s position. It says nothing yet about the rest of either chart, which is covered later in this page.
The doshas everyone asks about
Four names come up most often in kundali matching: Nadi, Bhakoot, Gana and Mangal. Two get their own dedicated warning card on this tool; two do not, worth knowing before assuming silence means nothing was checked.
Nadi dosha
Nadi dosha fires when both partners’ nakshatras fall in the same Nadi, and it carries the single largest weight on the table, eight of 36 points, lost entirely when present. When the eight-kuta table returns an unfavourable Nadi result, a Dosha Compatibility Warnings card opens and states plainly that this is the most serious of the eight kootas to lose in full.
That card also lists the classical exceptions: the same nakshatra but different padas; the same Moon sign but different nakshatras; and, in some texts, Moon sign lords that are the same planet or friends. When either of the first two applies to the pair in front of it (the tool tests these two against the actual pair), the Nadi row of the table says so (“Cancelled by a classical exception”) and the warning card is replaced by a note that the dosha is treated as cancelled.
Separately, the Nakshatra and Yoni Compatibility card does re-test Nadi directly from each partner’s nakshatra, using the same classical table, and states outright whether the two share a Nadi. That check is chart-specific in a way the exceptions list is not, and where the main engine has found a classical exception for the pair it says so there as well; the rashi-lord exception is not tested by either.
Traditions vary on how strictly Nadi dosha should be weighed on its own, particularly where the concern is framed around the health of future children: some treat other strong compatibility across the chart as sufficient reassurance, others hold Nadi as close to a veto regardless of the rest of the score.
Bhakoot dosha
Bhakoot dosha fires when the two Moon signs sit second and twelfth from each other, sixth and eighth, or fifth and ninth, patterns the tradition associates with strain on finances, health or children. When the eight-kuta table returns an unfavourable Bhakoot result, its own warning card opens, distinct from the Nadi one.
The exception it lists: when the two Moon signs have the same lord (Aries and Scorpio, both ruled by Mars, for example) or friendly lords, the dosha is treated as cancelled. It also notes that some traditions set Bhakoot aside when the Nadi koota scores in full, and that others do not.
Gana, the one without its own card
A Deva-Rakshasa pairing under the Gana koota is one people worry about most, but this tool does not raise a separate Gana Dosha warning the way it does for Nadi and Bhakoot. A poor Gana result simply shows up as a low score in that one row of the table, worth up to six points. Classically, a Deva-Rakshasa mismatch is treated as the hardest of the three Gana combinations, but several authorities weigh it far more leniently than Nadi or Bhakoot, and matching practice generally treats it as one input to read alongside the rest of the table, not a standalone dosha needing its own remedy.
Mangal dosha, compared across both charts
Mangal dosha, also called Kuja dosha, is checked for each partner with the same engine as the Mangal dosha calculator and the Mangal dosha matching tool. Mars is counted from the Lagna, the Moon and Venus, and the dosha houses are the first, second, fourth, seventh, eighth and twelfth. Where the placement is present, six classical cancellations are tested against the real chart:
- Mars in its own sign, Aries or Scorpio
- Mars exalted in Capricorn
- Mars in Leo or Aquarius, accepted by several authorities
- Jupiter in the same sign as Mars
- Jupiter looking at Mars by its fifth, seventh or ninth aspect
- Jupiter or Venus in the Lagna
Each of these is checked against the actual chart, not simply listed, and whichever ones apply are named on screen. A dosha that is cancelled is shown as present but cancelled, and it does not count as active.
The two partners’ results are then read together by one rule, the same here and on the matching calculator. If neither chart has an active dosha, there is nothing to balance. If both do, the card says it balances out. If only one does, the card names that chart and says plainly that by the traditional rule it is not balanced, so it is one factor of the match, weighed with the eight checks and the age convention. It is never a verdict on its own.
What a guna milan score cannot tell you
The 36-point score, start to finish, is built from one part of each chart: the Moon’s rashi and nakshatra. It never looks at any of the following, and nothing about a high or low score should be read as saying anything about them.
Character and effort. No score, however high, measures how two specific people communicate, resolve conflict, or choose to show up for each other over years. Ashtakoota was built to flag a narrow set of classical risk factors, not to substitute for knowing someone.
The seventh house. Kalatra Bhava, the house of partnership and marriage, and its ruling planet describe the nature of partnership in a single chart in far more detail than any koota touches. This tool does have a Spouse Indicators card built from the seventh house, its lord, Darakaraka and Venus, but it is read from the male partner’s chart alone, described on screen as indicative, and runs entirely separately from the 36-point score. A high guna score and a difficult seventh house, or the reverse, are both possible in the same match, because neither panel is aware of the other’s result.
Venus. Shukra, the planet classically tied to love, romantic compatibility, comfort and shared pleasure, is read only inside that same Spouse Indicators card, from one chart, and never inside the Ashtakoota score.
Navamsa, the D9 chart. Classical Jyotisha turns to the Navamsa specifically for marriage, built by dividing every sign into nine parts. Guna Milan does not touch it. Two rashi charts can match well on the surface while their Navamsa charts tell a different story, and this tool has no panel that compares the two partners’ Navamsa charts against each other at all.
Dasha timing. The Vimshottari dasha, the sequence of planetary periods that runs through a lifetime, decides when a marriage is likely to be supported or delayed far more than a static score does. A strong match on paper still needs a supportive period running to actually feel supported, and matching, as this tool computes it, makes no attempt to line up either partner’s dasha timeline against the other’s.
None of this makes the eight-koota score meaningless. It is a fast, checkable read on eight specific comparisons, worth having before a fuller conversation, just not the whole conversation.
When a full reading helps
A single koota table is a reasonable first pass. It is not a substitute for a reading that looks at both full charts together: the seventh house and its lord in each chart, both Navamsa charts side by side, both Venus placements, and the dasha timeline each partner is actually running or about to enter. That is the kind of comparison a consultation is built for, reading both charts as a pair rather than running eight fixed comparisons and stopping.
Sources
- Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, the classical source for planetary dignity and natural friendship between planets (ch. 3, verses 49 to 55, Santhanam’s edition), which this method draws on.
- Muhurta Chintamani, the classical text most closely associated with the Ashtakoota Guna Milan system used for marriage matching across the Jyotisha tradition.
Frequently asked questions
↳ How many gunas should match for marriage?
Eighteen out of 36 is the most widely quoted convention for an acceptable score, but it is convention rather than a rule fixed in any single text, and different regions and families apply it differently. On this tool's own scale, 18 is where the Acceptable Score band begins and anything lower is labelled below the usual minimum, but that is a reference point and not a pass or fail line, so the more useful habit is reading which of the eight kootas pulled the score up or down rather than treating any one number as a cutoff.
↳ What is Nadi dosha, and does the tool check for exceptions?
Nadi dosha fires when both partners' nakshatras fall into the same one of three constitutional types, Adi, Madhya or Antya, and it costs the full eight points, the largest single weight in the 36-point score. The panel's warning card lists classical exceptions, differing padas within one nakshatra or the same Moon sign with different nakshatras (both tested against the actual pair, and the dosha is shown as cancelled when one applies) and, in some texts, friendly or identical Moon sign lords (listed, not tested). A separate Nakshatra and Yoni card does independently recompute whether the two nakshatras actually share a Nadi.
↳ What is Bhakoot dosha?
Bhakoot dosha is triggered when the two partners' Moon signs sit second and twelfth from each other, sixth and eighth, or fifth and ninth, patterns classically linked to strain on finances, health or children. It is worth seven of the 36 points. The panel's own guidance lists two exceptions, friendly or identical Moon sign lords, and a full-scoring Nadi koota (which some traditions accept and others do not), as reasons the tradition treats it as weakened rather than absolute.
↳ Does Mangal dosha cancel out when both partners have it?
Yes, by the traditional rule. When both charts have an active Mangal dosha, mild or present and not cancelled, the card says it balances out. When only one chart has it, the card says it is in that chart only and is not balanced by the traditional rule, so it is weighed with the eight checks and the age convention. The same rule runs on the Mangal dosha matching calculator.
↳ Can a high guna score still mean a difficult marriage?
Yes, because the 36-point score is built entirely from the Moon's sign and nakshatra in each chart. It never looks at the seventh house, Venus, either partner's Navamsa chart, or either partner's dasha timing, all of which classical Jyotisha treats as central to how a marriage actually plays out. A strong guna score is a reasonable first pass, not a statement about the rest of either chart.
↳ Does the tool check anything beyond the 36-point Ashtakoota score?
Yes. Beyond the eight kootas, the results screen adds a Mangal dosha comparison tested against both actual charts, an independent recheck of Yoni and Nadi from each partner's nakshatra, and a set of spouse indicators read from the male partner's chart alone. Four further South Indian checks (Rajju, Vedha, Mahendra and Stree Deergha) appear in an Additional Factors card, in this site's own neutral wording, and are not part of the score. Checks on lifespan and health are not shown.