Ashtakoota Milan scores a match out of 36 points across eight categories, called kootas. Each koota carries a different weight, and the weights are not decorative — they reflect what the tradition considers most consequential in a marriage.

The eight kootas and their weights

  • Varna — 1 point. Work temperament and general compatibility of approach.
  • Vashya — 2 points. Mutual influence: who naturally leads in which area.
  • Tara — 3 points. Health and fortune of the pairing, read from the nakshatras.
  • Yoni — 4 points. Physical and sexual compatibility.
  • Graha Maitri — 5 points. Friendship between the Moon-sign lords: mental compatibility.
  • Gana — 6 points. Temperament: deva, manushya or rakshasa.
  • Bhakoot — 7 points. The relationship between the two Moon signs; affects prosperity and family.
  • Nadi — 8 points. Constitution and progeny — the heaviest single koota.

How many gunas are enough

Below 18 the match is generally not recommended. From 18 to 24 is acceptable. From 25 to 32 is considered good, and above 32 is rare and excellent. But the total on its own is a poor summary, because two specific objections can outweigh a high score.

The two objections that matter more than the score

Nadi dosha — both partners sharing the same nadi — costs all eight of its points and is read for constitution and progeny. Bhakoot dosha, where the Moon signs fall in certain relationships to each other, costs seven. A match can score 26 and still carry one of these, which is why an astrologer will look at the breakdown rather than the number.

Both have recognised cancellations. Nadi dosha is considered cancelled when the two share a Moon sign but different nakshatras, or the same nakshatra with different padas. Bhakoot is cancelled when the Moon-sign lords are friends or the same planet.

What Ashtakoota does not cover

Guna Milan reads the Moon and the nakshatras. It says nothing about longevity of the marriage, Mangal dosha, the 7th house in either chart, or the dasha periods both people are running when they marry. A complete assessment uses the score as an opening, not a conclusion.

A 32-guna match with Nadi dosha and an 18-guna match without one are not the same proposition, in either direction.